In a stunning upset to the election for Spokane City Council’s District 1 seat, Sarah Dixit unseated Jonathan Bingle, one of two conservatives on the seven-member body.
As of the final ballot drop on the evening of November 10, Dixit had earned 6,291 votes to Bingle’s 6,135, a difference of 156 votes. Considering the 40 write-in votes, this put her at 50.32% to Bingle’s 49.08%. That’s just over the margin that obviates Washington’s automatic recounts for elections in which the vote difference is less than 1%.
In a concession posted to Facebook, he acknowledged the legitimacy of the count and congratulated Dixit.
Working with her campaign staff in the Saranac Commons, Dixit told RANGE she won by spending a lot of time in the community and making voters feel they’d be heard if they elected her to the seat.
“It was really important to have a campaign centered on the people of District 1,” she said. It was really about meeting people where they’re at. We knocked on doors. We called people, texted people, hosted community conversations at coffee shops and town halls and podcasts.”
Bingle, who was between the rapid-fire Monday meetings of city council committees and the city council meeting itself, did not immediately return a request for comment.
“While tonight I may feel heavy, I remain hopeful,” Bingle wrote in the Facebook concession. “The challenges are real, but so is the potential. I believe our best days are still ahead of us if we stay engaged, stay committed, and continue working to make this city a place where people can thrive, businesses can grow, and every neighbor feels safe.”
Dixit said the central focus of her time on city council will be providing access to the body for the residents of District 1.
”For me, it’s really important to make sure people have access to city council, making sure they’re aware of the different things happening and making city hall and the workings of our city much more accessible to people regardless of how much time or access they’ve had.”
Bingle is a proud conservative who has had ambitions for higher office in the past. He threw his hat into a crowded ring of hopefuls for the seat representing most of Eastern Washington in the US House of Representatives last year when the incumbent, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, unexpectedly announced her retirement.
Dixit’s win changes the composition of the city council only a little — it will now carry a six-to-one progressive majority rather than five-to-two — but it’s hard to exaggerate how different the voice coming from the flipped seat will be.
Bingle is a former pastor who during his time at the dais championed police and downtown businesses, took what he called a “principled stand” against COVID mask mandates “that are more about government control than science” and preached the virtues of home ownership in Spokane.
In his place will sit a reproductive rights organizer who made her bones at Pro-Choice Washington, believes bus service in Spokane should be free and advocates for progressive taxation at the state level to pay for climate resilience at the local level.
Her win follows victories for fellow progressive council candidates announced last week: incumbent Zack Zappone of District 3, who defeated challenger Christopher Savage, and Kate Telis of District 2, who beat Alejandro Barrientos.
