Seattle residents have elected a political newcomer and member of the populist Occupy Seattle movement to their City Council, favoring a champion of a $15 minimum wage and tax on millionaires over a 16-year council veteran. Challenger Kshama Sawant, a community college economics professor, took 50.3 percent of the vote to incumbent Richard Conlin's 49.4 percent. Conlin, a bastion of Seattle's Democratic establishment known for pushing sustainability initiatives, conceded on Friday to Sawant, who trailed early on in the largely vote-by-mail Nov. 5 election. The results will be certified on Nov. 26. "These exciting results show a majority of voters are fed up with the corporate politicians who have presided over the widening chasm between the super-rich and the rest of us," Sawant said in a statement.
