Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's chief of staff resigns after primary election

SEATTLE - Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's chief of staff has announced his resignation, coming after the incumbent lost the popular vote in Washington's August primary election.

What we know:

In an all-staff email, Harrell announced changes to his Executive Team, including the departure of Jeremy Racca, who served as Chief of Staff and General Counsel for the Seattle Mayor's Office.

Harrell said Racca initially took a leave of absence to be closer to family and focus on his health, but is now resigning from the position.

Racca has worked with the Mayor's Office since Harrell was elected mayor in 2022, and the mayor expressed deep gratitude for Racca's work with his administration.

The announcement comes after Harrell lagged behind Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson in the August 5 primary election, with Wilson earning over 50% of the vote to Harrell's 41%.

Both Harrell and Wilson will move on to the general election in November. Primary election results are certified on Aug. 19.

Harrell went on to say Andrew Myerberg will be promoted to Chief of Staff, Tiffany Washington will serve as Chief Deputy Mayor and Greg Wong will serve as Deputy Mayor and General Counsel.

Dig deeper:

Below is the full email sent from Mayor Harrell:

"Cabinet Directors and Mayor’s Office Team,

"I am writing to give you an update on some upcoming changes to our Executive Team. As many of you may be aware, Jeremy Racca recently asked to take a leave of absence to be closer to family in New York and Louisiana, as well as to focus on his health. Jeremy will be resigning his position to make that change permanent. I am proud of Jeremy for making this decision and want to express my eternal gratitude for everything he has done to support our administration.

"For nearly 15 years, Jeremy has been one of my closest and most trusted collaborators in service to the people of Seattle. He was a core member of my City Council office before attending law school in New York. Later, when I was elected mayor, Jeremy dropped what he was doing at a nationally regarded law firm in New York to move back to Seattle and support our administration.

"As our chief of staff, Jeremy has been at the center of transforming a bold policy agenda into tangible action for our city. More importantly, Jeremy has been instrumental in fostering our office culture as a learning, growing organization with a driven but caring community.

"Over our nearly four years in the Mayor’s Office, I consistently asked Jeremy to take on more responsibility because I knew he was up to the task. While Jeremy’s official role was chief of staff and general counsel – those two titles don’t begin to capture the wide array of positive impacts he had for our administration. As such, his responsibilities will be split among several members of our team:

• Andrew Myerberg will serve as Chief of Staff, developing and aligning the City’s agenda, coordinating e-team and pipeline, and providing a direct support to the Mayor.
• Tiffany Washington will serve as Chief Deputy Mayor, supporting internal office leadership and logistics, coordinating Mayor’s Office/department relations, and assisting with operations and implementation of our agenda, while maintaining her current portfolio.
• Greg Wong will serve as Deputy Mayor and General Counsel, overseeing legal matters in addition to his ongoing internal and external roles.

"Please join me in wishing Jeremy all the best. While we will surely miss his leadership and organizational skills, I know that we’ll also miss his humor, empathy, and friendship. That said, thanks to the team that we have collectively developed, I am confident we will continue to execute at the same pace and quality that the people of Seattle have grown accustomed to.

"Thank you to Jeremy and to this entire team for all you do for our administration. Let’s keep at it. We have more work to do.

"Sincerely,
Mayor Bruce Harrell"

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE

3 Seattle-area sandwich shops make Yelp's Top 100 list

'Its a zoo': Frustrations grow over Seattle's new bus-only lanes

Seattle's 'paddle rave' new summer hit on Lake Union

'Presence, not activity': New tool helps track ICE agents across U.S.

Art mural defaced for second time in Seattle's Chinatown-International District

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.