Woke Seattle lawmaker leaps ahead in election battle despite claims she's a massive bully
Carmen Rivera, who was appointed as Renton's first openly queer councilmember in 2021, is headed for November's general election, where she will run for her position once again.
While official results from Tuesday's primary have not been released, unofficial stats from Kings County show Rivera ahead of her two opponents with about 44 percent of the vote.
Washington is a mail-in ballot state and the final verdict will be announced on August 19, but the last day to vote was Tuesday. The top two candidates for each seat advance to the general election.
'Looking at the numbers, I'd be very surprised if Rivera did not make it to the general election,' King County Elections Communications Manager Halei Watkins told the Daily Mail.
Watkins did note there are 'still a lot of ballots to count,' but it is likely Rivera will at the very least remain in the top two.
Rivera's candidacy has been shrouded in controversy, with accusers coming forward with unflattering anecdotes about the allegedly short-fused politician.
The progressive lawmaker's controversies trace back to October 2021, just before she was elected to the city council.
She worked as a volunteer security guard at a Seattle Pride concert, where some performers claimed she was wildly disrespectful in a letter to event leadership.
The note asserted that Rivera worked in a manner that was 'hostile, confrontational, and bordering harassment' while guarding the backstage area.
The artists collection alleged that Rivera ignored several of the performers and even tried to block some of them from entering the backstage area.
'Security ran towards and physically blocked a black trans woman from one of our performers' houses who was being walked into the backstage area by a collective member, yelling at her that she could not be there,' the letter alleged.
Rivera also allegedly threatened to kick people who had taken down their face masks just to eat or drink out of the event, according to the affected artists.
At the same Pride event a year later, the then-director Krystal Marx said an employee made similar claims against Rivera.
Rivera was serving on the event's board and has fiercely denied these claims to Axios Seattle.
She then left the board, blaming Marx's 'unprofessional behavior.' Marx was let go about a month after Rivera left, but said Rivera's claim was false.
About a year into her council tenure, Rivera found herself at the center of a claim of vicious behavior documented in a letter written to police.
Renton City Councilmember Kim-Khán Văn contacted local authorities about Rivera in a jaw-dropping email from December 2022.
Văn described a year's worth of 'harassment and bullying' inflicted by her colleague Rivera.
In light of the police report resurfacing, Rivera's partner, Jas Maisonet, spoke out on her behalf on Facebook
She was requesting video footage from an event because she was 'harassed and verbally attacked by sitting Councilmember Carmen Rivera in public again.'
Văn notified police, but did not file an official report. Afterwards she told the city's human resources department about her alleged run-ins with Rivera.
Văn later claimed to Axios that Rivera got up in her face and started cursing at her during the event for several minutes straight.
A month prior to the heated encounter Văn claimed Rivera tried physically stopping her from entering a meeting by placing herself between Văn and the door.
Rivera fiercely disputed these accusations, telling Axios she 'was not yelling at her' and 'definitely did not curse at her.'
In response to Văn's concerns, Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone issued a notice to the city council in January 2023.
'Councilmembers are not administrative employees subject to my supervision or control as the Mayor,' Pavone wrote.
'Currently, the Council has no formal process for receiving and addressing complaints of personal conflicts between councilmembers.'
While admitting he could not intervene, he suggested adapting conduct codes regarding councilmember behavior.
Aside from Văn, Axios reported other anonymous witnesses confessed to having similar experiences with Rivera.
But Rivera claimed all of these accusations are baseless and at least one of the people who came forward had actually been bullying her - not the other way around.
Her campaign consultant, Michael Charles, told Axios the accusations were 'politically motivated retaliation for her support of progressive policies.
Concerns about Rivera have been raised as recently as June, with Winter Cashman, a King county candidate for the Public Hospital Commission, writing a bombshell letter to the editor in the Renton Reporter.
'When Carmen Rivera first ran for Renton City Council, I supported her. I believed in the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in our local government, and I hoped she'd bring both lived experience and a collaborative spirit to the role,' he began.
'But since that time, I've seen a continued pattern that's hard to ignore — and I can't support her re-election.'
Cashman claimed Rivera 'escalated tensions' between candidates and had even accused people who supported her of 'undermining' her.
He also claimed she once said 'all straight people are transphobic' and called him 'a little sh*t.'
Rivera told the Daily Mail Cashman's claims 'came out of nowhere' and she had no previous relationship with him.
'I would say they are targeted, political attacks,' she continued. 'Including false claims and unverified complaints rooted in distortion.'
Allegations of Rivera's outbursts began long before her political debut, according court records.
In 2016, she was arrested and charged with malicious mischief in the third-degree domestic violence following a fight with her ex.
Her ex claimed she was in the car when Rivera started kicking in and tore off one of its mirrors.
She told Axios she was 'not in the best place personally at the time.'
The case was eventually dismissed, the outlet reported.
In light of the police report resurfacing, Rivera's current partner, Jas Maisonet, spoke out on her behalf on Facebook.
'Recently, and conveniently timed, a decade old, resolved police report was dragged up and used as a weapon,' Maisonet wrote.
'Behind every council seat is a real person. And behind that person is often a family that carries the emotional weight of public service quietly.
'Leadership isn't about being perfect; no one is. It's about showing up with integrity, listening, learning, and doing the work.'
Rivera has used her social media platforms to promote her stances, as well as call out those who have spoken out against her.
In a video from March, Rivera addressed 'right-wing basement bloggers' who decided to 'come after' her for supporting a trans Linwood City councilmember.
Rivera claimed people calling her out were being transphobic and bigoted
Although she is not explicitly named in the clip Rivera is likely speaking about Jessica Roberts, who came under fire around the same time when it became publicly known she was posting on Only Fans.
Roberts admitted to the Lynnwood Times that she had made an Only Fans account to boost her self confidence while 'making a little cash on the side.'
Soon after the news went public, she took down the account.
She also allegedly had a Reddit account where she shared dark and explicit sexual content. Roberts resigned from her position amid the controversy.
Rivera had voiced support for Roberts, calling a Lynwood Times report of Roberts' alleged online activity a 'grossly intentional misrepresentation of information.'
She also said all the comments about Robert were 'ignorant and hateful.'
'When history looks back on these Nazi driven narratives, what will you say you did?' she wrote on X.
Rivera told the Daily Mail she spoke out online because attacks on Roberts were 'rooted in ignorance and hatred.'
'Many women, including Jessica, have to deal with unfair standards and double standards.
'I would do that [speak out] for many women in the LGBTQI+ community in these positions who are being publicly filleted.'
Rivera took the lead against her opponents for Council Position No 2, Mary Clymer, who accounted for roughly 29 percent of votes, and Raman Mann, who took about 26 percent.
'I'm really grateful that the voters can look past some of the distracting noise and see real leaders doing really good work,' Rivera told the Daily Mail.
She and Clymer will compete for the seat in the general election in November, meaning there is still a chance she could be booted from her position.
In Washington state, councilmembers do not run with political affiliations, although Rivera's stances are progressive.
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