Beto Yarce Will Challenge Kshama Sawant In 2019

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant is famous for being a socialist. But the first person to enter the 2019 field to challenge her is a man who owes his success to capitalism.

Beto Yarce, who will announce his campaign Thursday at El Cuento Preschool, came to the U.S. from Mexico in the early 2000s. He got his foothold here selling necklaces at the Fremont Sunday Market. He eventually opened a jewelry shop at Pike Place Market called Cintli by Beto Yarce.

Today, he's executive director at Ventures, a nonprofit that provides "business training, capital, coaching and hands-on learning opportunities for entrepreneurs with limited resources." In other words, helping people succeed within capitalism.

Yarce also opposed one of Sawant's biggest efforts. His name was No. 87 on a list of small business owners who wrote a letter to City Council last summer opposing the head tax (AKA, employee hours tax).

In 2019, Sawant will be running for her third term. In 2015, former Urban League leader Pamela Banks challenged Sawant and lost in the general election by about 13 points.

Even a month shy of 2019, City Council candidates are lining up. Two of the seven Council seats up for election in 2019 will be open with Sally Bagshaw and Rob Johnson deciding not to run. Other notable names in the race include Democratic socialist and Real Change interim editor Shaun Scott running for Johnson's seat, and Ed Murray lawsuit-filer Lincoln Beauregard, who might run for Bagshaw's seat.

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