There’s only one consistent antiwar, pro-worker candidate in this race.

There are two Democrats and one Republican running against Kshama Sawant in the Congressional District 9 race for Washington state.

Democrat #1 is incumbent Adam Smith, who has spent his nearly three decades in office supporting and funding endless war. Smith has voted repeatedly to fund the genocide in Gaza and to block United Nations food aid to Gaza.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties are using every avenue to try to block Kshama from becoming the first revolutionary socialist in Congress. The Republican candidate, Doug Basler, publicly admitted that he was recruited into the race to try to keep Kshama out of Congress.

Democrat #2 in the race is Melissa Chaudhry. While purportedly running as an alternative to establishment Democrat Adam Smith, Chaudhry is running a remarkably establishment-friendly campaign. Chaudhry has not been campaigning to end military aid to Israel, to shut down ICE, or for universal public healthcare. As The Stranger noted when they endorsed Kshama, Chaudhry “admitted her website lacked policy on protecting LGBTQ rights because it would alienate” a particular community. This is shocking especially in the context of horrific attacks on trans and queer people by Trump and the right wing.

If a politician is unwilling to even call for demands in support of oppressed communities and the antiwar movement during their election campaign, they’re certainly not going to fight for them once in office. Chaudhry said about herself and Adam Smith: “In many fronts, we are aligned, honestly.” In front of a room full of Democratic Party officials, she proudly announced, “I will be a team player.”

Congress is already full of team players: they play for Team Billionaires and Team Genocide. Working people need someone on our team. It’s no accident that Democratic Party candidates don’t run on demands like Kshama’s, because they are trying to build their careers and don’t want to antagonize powerful people.

Kshama is the only consistently antiwar, pro-worker candidate in this race. And she’s the only candidate with a record of taking on the billionaires and their political servants and defeating them.