Seattle is geared up to have "the most progressive council in many years": Sawant overtook Orion in the ~4 p.m. ballot drop today. If the trend continues in tonight's ballot drop at 8:30, which it's expected to, Sawant will essentially ensure her victory. Here's the latest. It turns out you don't need Amazon's money to win an election. The tech company's massive PAC spending in this election turned out to bite them in the ass.
Heidi Wills concedes to Dan Strauss: The news comes via Chris "Drinks With" Daniels.
NEW—-
I just spoke with Heidi Wills —
The results are "definitive".
She has called @Seattle4Strauss to concede, and wish him luck as he becomes D6's representative on the Seattle City Council.#Seattle #SeaElex @KING5Seattle
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) November 9, 2019
The Scott campaign is hoping for a big jump at the 8:30 drop tonight: If not, Pedersen has the district secured. It's also Scott's birthday, says Twitter.
With ~3000 ballots left to count, we trail by about 2100 votes.
We’ve come a long way since election night, where we trailed by 16. Our current deficit is 53.49% to 46.20%.
7 points. It isn’t likely, but we’re hoping for a touchdown on tonight’s 8:30 ballot drop. 🏈 🏙
— Shaun Scott for District 4✊🏾🏙 (@ElectScott2019) November 8, 2019
Instagram is testing removing "likes": Big news from the social media giant, owned by Facebook, tonight. From Wired:
Hiding like counts is just the latest step in Instagram’s quest to become the safest place on the internet, along with algorithms and filters to remove offensive or divisive comments or pictures. But the move hasn’t come without panicked pushback from users, who, among other complaints, note that hiding engagement metrics will make it harder to determine whose follower count is legitimate.
Were there more clandestine Ukraine meetings? John Bolton, the President's former national security adviser, thinks so. He suggested he knows about “many relevant meetings and conversations" related to the Ukraine pressure campaign that impeachment investigators may not be aware of, reports his lawyer via the New York Times.
Ditto what Nathalie wrote this morning: Seattle's winter is probably going to be very snowy.
Michael Bloomberg is listed as a qualified candidate for the Democratic presidential primary in multiple states: But there still hasn't been a campaign announcement. Hat tip to Guardian reporter Vivian Ho for spotting this.
Michael Bloomberg is officially among the qualified candidates in Alabama, though he still hasn’t made an actual campaign official.
(Julian Castro still MIA) https://t.co/cZ6VAF19ZH pic.twitter.com/dL4jgEN8Gs
— Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) November 8, 2019
These are the candidates qualified to be on the ballot in Michigan's presidential primary. Additional candidates, like @EricHolder, can be added if the party requests to add their name by Nov. 12 OR if they file a petition with @MichSoS @JocelynBenson by Dec. 13. #2020Election pic.twitter.com/KEDfUvQpVu
— Andrew Roth (@RothTheReporter) November 8, 2019
Meanwhile, Bret Stephens over at the New York Times says a Bloomberg-Trump race would be ideal: "First, he would be a very good president, potentially a great one. Second, he stands a much better chance of beating Donald Trump than anyone in the current Democratic field." WOW. New York is a crazy place! Do those guys ever leave their island?
Seattle home prices skyrocketed in October: We saw the largest year-over-year jump in 12 months, reports the Times. But they say it's simply a correction, nothing to worry about...
It’s just a correction from 2018’s inventory glut. This time last year, there were 86% more homes on the market than there were in the year previous — partially a function of ultra-tight inventory in 2017.
The number of homes on the market also fell compared to last month, which isn’t surprising. Generally, the number of homes for sale falls through autumn and winter, then rises again in the spring.
Trump's personal lawyers intend to take his tax return case to the Supreme Court: Obnoxious.
Are you going to the MLS Cup this weekend? Are we winning? Should I go? It's sold out. I've never been to a soccer game. Actually, I think I played soccer as a kid in Idaho but I fully blocked out my childhood so I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Prince's estate has released a rare Prince track: "Don't Let Him Fool Ya" was recorded in 1982 at Prince's home in Chanhassen, Minnesota (there's a great musical dinner theater in Chanhassen, JuSt So YoU KnOw). Here it is:
