BY ROBBIE SCHERR
SEATTLE - About 50 people packed the room July 19 to hear the Socialist Workers candidates in the Seattle city elections. Many of the participants joined in the first 10 days of a petition drive to win ballot status for Scott Breen for mayor, Robbie Scherr for city council, and Chris Rayson for port commission. Breen and Scherr are workers at Boeing Co. and members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 751. Members of the IAM from Miami, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia came to help.

By the night of the rally, campaign supporters had finished collecting 1,322 signatures for the city council race -well over the 708 required. As of now, the count is up to 1,633 for the mayor's race. The goal is to turn in 2,000 signatures for Breen, to decisively meet the legal requirement of 1,200.

More than 30 people have signed petitions for Rayson, toward the 60 needed to put him on the ballot. Most of these signatures are his coworkers on the railroad.

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the final weeks of the election campaign here, Mary Martin, Socialist Workers candidate for chairperson of the D.C. Council, has reached out to thousands of working people, campaigning at plantgates throughout the area and speaking a several community candidate forums.

Martin, a member of IAM Local 1759, is one of two candidates on the ballot for the July 22 special election. Her opponent is Democrat Linda Cropp, who is currently serving as acting council chairperson. Martin's campaign appearance at National airport, where she works as a baggage handler, was covered by the Washington Post and channel 7 television, which is preparing a special program on the Socialist Workers Party to air in the fall.

"Few of the airport workers Martin talked to in the parking lot last week disagreed with her ruling-class-vs.- working-class position, particularly when she discussed wages, downsizing and other workplace issues," wrote Washington Post reporter Vanessa Williams in a substantial article that appeared in the July 17 issue. The socialist candidate was also interviewed by WAMU, the local affiliate of National Public Radio, and by community newspapers The Northwest Current and Washington Informer.

"I'd like to extend my support to Mary Martin's campaign for D.C. Council Chair," stated airline worker Lewis Guy in a message to a July 19 Militant Labor forum that featured the socialist candidate. "I'm very impressed with several aspects of Mary's program. Some say her ideas are radical but I say they are completely reasonable."

BY CHESTER NELSON

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Doug Jenness and Jenny Benton, the Socialist Workers Party candidates for mayor of St. Paul and Minneapolis respectively, filed by the July 15 deadline to appear on the ballot in the September 9 municipal elections. Their supporters have been campaigning since May 1 at street corners, campuses, and factories.

Jenness is a production worker at Advance Circuits Inc. and is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 9198; Benton works at the 3M tape plant in St. Paul and is a member of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) Local 6- 75.

In May police agencies in St. Paul organized a meeting to notify residents that two men who had served time for charges of sex offenses were being released to reside in their neighborhood. This generated a big discussion in the media and at workplaces and some 500 people turned out to the meeting. Jenness issued a statement blasting the meeting and the law that mandated it. "When a person is convicted, sentenced, and completes his or her sentence, it should be put behind them, and they should be able to go on with their lives."

Jenness is scheduled to appear at an August 2 breakfast forum with the other candidates for mayor of St. Paul. The meeting is sponsored by Insight, a local weekly that orients to the Black community. Also on the ballot are Norman Coleman, the incumbent mayor who recently switched from the Democratic Farmer Labor party to the Republicans; Sandy Pappas, a state senator who is the DFL's nominee; and Sharon Anderson, an independent candidate.

In Minneapolis, Benton is running against 13 other candidates, including Sharon Sayles Belton, the incumbent DFL mayor, and Barbara Carlson, a radio talk show personality and former city council member. Carlson filed as an independent but will likely seek Republican endorsement.

The Socialist Workers Party is also running Jeff Jones for school board in St. Paul and Javier Aravena for the St. Paul City Council, 4th Ward. Jones is an aircraft cleaner at Northwest Airlines and is a member of IAM Local 1833. Aravena is employed by 3M at its plant in Cottage Grove. He is a member of the OCAW.  
 
 
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