Lambert Campaign Mailer Deemed Racist By 6 Council Colleagues

SAMMAMISH, WA — An inflammatory campaign mailer sent to voters in King County's third council district drew considerable criticism Wednesday and spurred calls for a public apology.

The flyer, paid for by Citizens to Re-Elect Kathy Lambert, depicts her opponent, Sarah Perry, on puppet strings held by District 2 Councilmember Girmay Zahilay. The mailer labels Zahilay as a "Seattle Socialist Leader" and shows him as flanked by Bernie Sanders, Kshama Sawant and Kamala Harris.

Lambert is one of three Republicans on the Metropolitan King County Council and has represented its largest district since 2001. Her district includes Issaquah, Sammamish and parts of Redmond, along with North Bend, Snoqualmie, Carnation, Duvall and a large swath of the Eastside's rural and unincorporated communities.

Lambert received just 40 percent of the vote in the August primary, with Perry close behind at 36 percent.

PubliCola journalist Erica C. Barnett surfaced the flyer Wednesday morning, and Councilmember Zahilay responded with a social media thread, questioning why his colleague would single him out as the only Black member of the county council.

Zahilay continues:

"I've rarely talked about this, but in my 2 years on the Council the number of racist and xenophobic messages, and even threats, I get weekly has been alarming. It's sad that my own colleague would fuel these attacks for cheap political points in a race I'm not even in. Painting the Black elected official with a foreign-sounding name as an enemy to suburban and rural values is nothing new. But we have to push back against this because it diminishes our ability to work together to deliver real results for people struggling all over King County."

Lambert's mailer drew swift condemnation from other council colleagues, including Democrats Rod Dembowski and Joe McDermott.

"I stand in support of my friend and colleague @GirmayZahilay and against this despicable, racist campaign messaging," Dembowski wrote on Twitter. "This has been months in the making with poll-tested attack messages. And sadly, the shameful conduct isn't just a tactic; it shows the 'character' of the sponsor."

As The Stranger's Rich Smith reports, five council Democrats sent a letter Wednesday afternoon, calling on Lambert to publicly apologize to Zahilay, Perry and the public.

"Put simply, this is a racist piece of political mail," the letter reads in part. "It has no place in any public or private discourse here in King County. Planning, authorizing and mailing a communication like this betrays ignorance at best, deep seated racism at worst."

Lambert's campaign had yet to address the mailer by early Wednesday afternoon and did not answer a request for comment from Patch.