As Socialist Candidates Win In Seattle, Half Of WA’s House Delegation Vote To Condemn the “Horrors of Socialism”

Ahead of New York City Mayor Elect Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani viral (and bromantic) meeting with president Donald Trump, the U.S. House passed a glorified subtweet condemning the “horrors of socialism.” The resolution divided House Democrats with 98 voting “no,” 86 siding with Republicans, and 29 staying out of it. 

Even in Washington, a State where socialists have recently made impressive gains — winning a seat in the State legislature for the first time in 100 years and a new Mayor in Seattle — representatives were not exactly jumping to the defense of socialism. 

Half of representatives from Washington, including Democrats Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Kim Schrier, and Marilyn Strickland as well as the delegation’s two Republicans, voted “yes” on the anti-left virtue signal. And just three representatives voted against it: Seattle-area Reps. Adam Smith and Pramila Jayapal as well as Rep. Emily Randall. Reps. Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene did not vote. 

The Republican-backed resolution, sponsored by Miami-area Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar and co-sponsored by eastern Washington’s very own Rep. Dan Newhouse, described socialist ideology as “a concentration of power that has, time and time again, collapsed into communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships.” The resolution accused socialism of leading to “famine and mass murders, and the killing of over 100,000,000 people worldwide.” To which I say, wait until they hear what capitalism has done! 

If Republicans and sympathetic Democrats are concerned about the “concentration of power,” then they may want to take a long, unblinking look at the system they’re defending. Because capitalism — especially the deregulated, corporate-friendly version Republicans champion — has spent centuries concentrating power and wealth in the hands of a microscopic elite. And, many of the Democrats who sided with Republicans on this resolution would agree that under the Trump administration, the U.S. is collapsing into “totalitarian rule” and “brutal dictatorships.”

And it should go without saying that famine and mass starvation has obviously occurred under capitalism, a system under which food is viewed as a commodity rather than a human right. Plus, capitalistic nations go to war to conquer territory and resources all the time, which typically involves a fuck ton of mass murder. 

But of course we shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of critical analysis of the status quo. Capitalism is never treated as an ideology with consequences but as the natural state of the universe — despite its own history of violence, exploitation, and concentrated power.

I’ll give them this: This is a stupid resolution. In fact, most resolutions are stupid! So it’s hard to waste too much energy scolding Washington moderates Larsen and DelBene for not picking a side in a fight that basically does not matter. Just as Smith shouldn’t get too much progressive cred for this vote considering his recent media blitz attacking the left. 

But it is worth noting a pattern, particularly for Gluesenkamp Perez and Schrier, of siding with Republicans. As The Burner previously reported, these two crossed party lines to approve a bill that helped Trump tighten his fascist grip on D.C., the egregiously anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act, and the censure of the only Palestinian in congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, over her comments following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. 

Gluesenkamp Perez, Schrier, and Strickland have not responded to requests for comment on their votes.