Government and Politics of Seattle - Politics

Politics

Seattle's politics lean famously to the left compared to the U.S. as a whole. In this regard, it sits with a small set of similar U.S. cities (such as Madison, Wisconsin, Berkeley, California, and Cambridge and Boston in Massachusetts) where the dominant politics tend to range from center-left to social democratic. Seattle politics are generally dominated by the liberal wing (in the U.S. sense of the word "liberal") of the Democratic Party; in some local elections, Greens (and even, on at least one occasion, a member of the Freedom Socialist Party) have fared better than Republicans. There exist pockets of conservatism, especially in the north and in neighborhoods such as Broadmoor, and scattered Libertarians, but for the most part Seattle is a safely Democratic city, as exemplified by congressman Jim McDermott, who represents the Seventh Congressional District of Washington, made up of most of Seattle and also including semi-rural Vashon Island. McDermott has been reelected to his seat in every election since 1988, when he replaced fellow liberal Democrat Mike Lowry, who had held the seat since 1979.

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Famous quotes containing the word politics:

    “The average educated man in America has about as much knowledge of what a political idea is as he has of the principles of counterpoint. Each is a thing used in politics or music which those fellows who practise politics or music manipulate somehow. Show him one and he will deny that it is politics at all. It must be corrupt or he will not recognize it. He has only seen dried figs. He has only thought dried thoughts. A live thought or a real idea is against the rules of his mind.”
    —John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)

    “All politics takes place on a slippery slope. The most important four words in politics are “up to a point.””
    —George F. Will (b. 1941)

    “Finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver. Finishing second in politics gets you oblivion.”
    —Richard M. Nixon (b. 1913)