Amazon Pledges $1 Million More in Heated Seattle Elections

Amazon.com Inc. is reaching into its deep pockets in an effort to make Seattle more business-friendly, pledging an additional $1 million to a corporate-backed group ahead of next month’s contentious city council elections.

The contribution disclosed on Tuesday brings Amazon’s donations this election cycle to the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE) to $1.45 million, and likely cements the company’s status as the biggest spender in its hometown’s elections. The splurge marks a dramatic change for the e-commerce giant, which largely avoided city politics for most of its 25 years, even as it grew into Seattle’s largest employer and contributed to a boom that brought about rapidly rising housing costs, snarled traffic and a homelessness crisis.