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Bruce Harrell leading race for Seattle mayor
Bruce Harrell is leading challenger Katie Wilson in the race for Seattle mayor, with both campaigns feeling very optimistic leaving their watch parties Tuesday night.
SEATTLE - The eight-point lead Bruce Harrell had over Katie Wilson is rapidly shrinking in the race to be Seattle's next mayor.
The third update of election results from King County Elections showed Harrell with 50.74% of the vote while Wilson had 48.86% of the vote — around 5.71% — with 46.08% of ballots counted so far.
On election night, the incumbent Harrell led Wilson by around 7.14%, but she has clawed back that lead to just 1.88 points.
Harrell is looking to keep his seat as Mayor of Seattle, following a second-place finish in the August primary behind Wilson.
While Harrell has the early lead, FOX 13 political analyst Sandeep Kaushik notes that last-minute voters skew progressive, and the majority of the Seattle ballots left to be counted are expected to favor Wilson.
Who is Bruce Harrell?
Harrell ran in 2021 on a platform of public safety and boosting police funding, following the 2020 George Floyd protests in Seattle. He also ran on addressing homelessness, though the Wilson campaign has accused him of grossly inflating the numbers of affordable housing units built under his watch.
Harrell helped Seattle navigate out of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw an influx of jobs and federal dollars return to the city, as well as the sunsetting of pandemic-era policies like the eviction moratorium and mask mandates.
Before he was mayor, Harrell served as Seattle City Council President from 2016–2020, and before that as a Seattle City Councilmember from 2008–2016. He previously ran for mayor in 2013 against incumbent Mike McGinn, then dropped out to endorse Ed Murray. In 2017, in the wake of several child sex abuse allegations, Murray resigned and Harrell served as acting mayor for five days.
Harrell has been endorsed by key Democrat politicians in Washington, including Gov. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, former King County Executive Dow Constantine, former mayors Jenny Durkan, Greg Nickels, Norm Rice and Wes Uhlman, and former governors Jay Inslee, Gary Locke, Christine Gregoire, as well as several labor unions.
Who is Katie Wilson?
Wilson ran on a platform of increasing affordable housing, addressing homelessness, reforming landlord practices and limiting homebuying by private equity firms, climate action and "Trump-proofing" Seattle.
Before her mayoral campaign, Wilson was perhaps most well-known locally for co-founding and serving as executive director of the Transit Riders Union. The Wilson campaign has touted her role in designing the ORCA LIFT program.
Wilson has been endorsed by several former Seattle City Councilmembers, community organizers, labor and union leaders, as well as organizations like Humane Voters of Washington, Transit Riders Union, UAW 4121, WFSE Local 1495, Seattle Subway, Seattle Bike Blog and various other political and non-profit organizations.
What's next:
Election Day marks only the first ballot drop of many, and county elections offices will be tabulating thousands more votes in the coming weeks.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from numbers provided by the Washington Secretary of State's Office, the campaigns of Bruce Harrell and Katie Wilson, and previous coverage by FOX 13 Seattle.