SEATTLE — A socialist candidate running for the state House has won a suit in King County Superior Court to state her party preference on the November ballot.
The Secretary of State’s Office had said election rules prevented Kshama Sawant from identifying with the Socialist Alternative Party, due to the circumstances in which she advanced to the general election.
Sawant had filed to run for the Position 1 seat in the 43rd District in Seattle. But she ended up coming in second in the Position 2 race as a write-in candidate.
State election rules allowed Sawant to decide which race she wanted to run in. She decided to face Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp in the Position 2 contest.
But election rules prohibited write-in candidates from stating a party preference. On Thursday, a judge ruled the state had to include Sawant’s party preference on the ballot.
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