Defining “Progressive” in Politics: P3 PAC Enters the Chat
How does Seattle define “progressive”?
In the political realm, it’s a highly charged word that some use for the better and others for the worse. Currently, the word’s meaning is so muddied around Seattle that many voters find it difficult to discern which way to lean when they review their ballots.
To some, “progressive” simply means “my policies are better than theirs.” Others use it to describe policies with more holistic or proactive facets. For most marginalized and BIPOC people, the word takes on a much different connotation, because whether or not an enacted policy is truly progressive has very real consequences and effects on their lives as they navigate the inequities of our region and resources.
In Fall of 2023, Seattle’s City Council race resulted in a slate of candidates winning their races by benefitting largely from independent expenditure PACs. These PACs were funded by ultra-wealthy millionaires and big business interests who targeted their “investments” to give an advantage to the candidates whom the millionaires focused on as their preferred (more conservative) choices to win. The money spent by these PACs was largely used to send out mailers and ads smearing the rival candidates and even spreading misinformation with the intent to confuse voters.
As a result, almost every single city council candidate that the PACs had helped with their millions of dollars won their races via smear campaigns and misinformation. All of the candidates who were the targets of the negative ad campaigns ran as progressives, such as ChrisTiana ObeySumner, Ron Davis, and Alex Hudson to name a few. Many progressives, from voters to electeds, were dismayed as Seattle watched this turn of events unfold in real time. Since the election, it’s been well-documented that the representatives of special interests who supported those elected have publicly stated that they were “very happy with the new council”.
These days, progressives are not happy; so unhappy, in fact, that a group of folks who closely support, follow, and are otherwise involved in government, politics, and various Seattle communities decided to take action to help progressive candidates who often have good policy ideas but find themselves massively outspent during election campaigns.
On September 17, 2024, a crowd of such Seattleites banded together for the launch of P3 PAC: Progressive People Power.
P3 hopes to pave the way for more candidates who have traditionally been kept out of the political process—due to lack of access to big-money funds—and help them to run effective, impactful campaigns and ultimately get elected to office.
The event was co-hosted by King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, former City Council candidates Maren Costa, Ron Davis, and Andrew Lewis, and Carrie Barnes from King County Democrats.
Maren Costa introduces P3 PAC to attendees / The Evergreen Echo
Costa opened the event with a welcome and a little background on the PAC. She talked about her concern over the massive influx of money in local races in 2023. “We saw too many dollars deluge the City Council race last Fall and there was no way to fight $300,000. That is more than most candidates can raise for an entire campaign.” Truly, one need look no further than the difficulties in raising democracy voucher funds, typically experienced by progressive candidates whose wealth never rises above lower middle class.
Ry Armstrong, who was involved in the creation of the PAC and serves as the board’s Chair, presented a slideshow with graphs and citations to show how over the years progressive candidates have been outspent, dollar for dollar, on local races by 4:1 or more.
“Progressives can only win if voters can hear them,” Armstrong told the enthusiastic crowd of some 50+ people as he explained some of the key goals of P3, including that its funds will not be used for primaries. This avoids the appearance of bias and ensures that the PAC funds will support the candidates voters choose, rather than those whom the big-moneyed investors push forward. Another goal of the PAC is to engage voters through popular messaging and create community around common interests, so that Seattleites can feel like their votes actually matter. Additionally, P3 aims to provide full transparency to the public about the PAC’s intentions and operations so Seattleites know exactly how the funds are used.
Kyler Parris addresses P3 PAC / The Evergreen Echo
P3 board member Kyler Parris also spoke to the crowd, saying, “I was angry when the results came out [from the 2023 Seattle City Council election], because our hundreds of volunteers and boots on the ground, knocking on doors, talking with voters could not compete with the big dollars and corporate cronies!” Parris invoked staff and volunteers he spoke with who were fired up: “I’m hearing from scrappy field organizers who feel Seattle needs to change!” he exclaimed.
Rachel met with award-winning drag performer and activist Aleksa Manila, also a P3 board member, who was inspired when she was invited to join. “This was deeply personal for me. I have always been involved as a political advocate, not as a politician. The whole PAC system and structure was new to me and learning about it opened my eyes to a new territory we are entering. This PAC will reach an audience that wouldn’t normally be part of the process, the under-represented, non-binary, immigrants, people of color—we are so busy making a living that we can’t have a life.” Manila believes this PAC will help more diverse candidates with diverse ideas have more opportunities to inhabit leadership roles. “It's really grassroots oriented,” she explained. “Traditional PACs decide ‘Who’s Who’ but we [P3] are asking candidates, ‘How can we help?’ and ‘How can we make this about you?’”
Elected leaders such as Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera, former School Board member Vivian Song, and Former Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold pledged their enthusiastic support and commitment. Community leaders from organizations First Mile, WorkForClimate.org, and Fair Vote Washington also echoed the necessity for supporting progressive candidates whose policies benefit everyone, including the under-represented, the working and middle class, and the most vulnerable among us. Journalists, political consultants, board members from Democratic Party organizations, and donors were eagerly ready to step up to financially support the idea of candidate access to elected leadership, and the power of the people proved that P3’s time has not only come, but possesses the drive to affect great changes to Seattle’s political landscape.
P3 Board Chair Ry Armstrong with members Aretha and Alexis, with Nilu Jenks of Fair Vote Washington
The Evergreen Echo
Most attendees were ready, willing, and able to donate hundreds of dollars at a time to support P3 PAC’s chosen candidate for this election cycle, Alexis Mercedes-Rinck for Seattle City Council Position 8. When asked if wealthy people can truly call themselves “progressive,” former City Council candidate Alex Hudson stated her support:
“I would say that solidarity is not about what’s in your bank account, it’s about what’s in your heart. …We need to level up, we need to match our opponents and I think we have better ideas! I think we have more sound policies and…there’s more of us. And so we need the tools and resources to be able to build our movement, to sustain our movement beyond campaigns, and to communicate with voters. And that takes money. I think there’s a lot of people in Seattle who care about those things and share those values.”
Matthew Lang, a political consultant active in the Seattle arena, shared his thoughts on what it’s going to take to keep a PAC that calls itself progressive stay true to its foundations and values. He said, “That really depends on who’s governing it…and the people in charge of how the money gets spent…they have to come from communities that are affected by the changes that are going to be seen and felt the most…If we have a PAC that’s governed by the people who are going to be the most impacted by the policies at whatever level of jurisdiction…then we are going to see a real progressive people-powered movement behind this. And if it gets away from that, if it starts to be couched in privilege, if it starts to be couched in favors or nepotism, then that’s when we know we’ve gone astray. Until then, I have hope.”
Those of us on the blue, progressive, and/or lefty side of politics must remain vigilant against bad faith actors and those who would co-opt our terminology. Voters should be ready to do the critical thinking it takes to recognize when actions don’t line up with a politician’s words.
Councilmember Rivera finds the use of the word “progressive” by leaders who are anything but disturbing: “I find it ignorant, honestly. If you understand the definition of progression and you want to co-opt it, then you’re not really doing it service.” She continued:
“Progress is about leaning into what hasn’t been tried before. Progress is about trying new things, about…leaning in a new way. I’m so tired of moderate conservatives [in South King County] pretending to be Democrats and trying to co-opt democratic language. It’s not authentic, it’s deceitful. …We’re well-versed in a number of electeds who claim to be democrats, who claim to be progressive, but who are moderate/conservative at best. I get so irritated because it’s just so transparent in my opinion.”
[After citing Webster’s definition of “progressive”] she said, “It's all about moving forward. When it comes to what we’re seeing, we have a lot of people in local municipalities, not just Seattle…they will use every argument in the book to fight against progression. So how dare they use a term that my ancestors, the people I identify with, used and fought for and were crucified for using. How dare they. Because as a progressive, I see you, and I don’t buy anything that you’re selling.”
