Katie Wilson wins Seattle mayoral race

SEATTLE - FOX 13 Seattle is now projecting Katie Wilson to be the next mayor of Seattle, the third woman in city history.

The latest ballot drop has kept Katie Wilson 1,976 votes ahead of incumbent Bruce Harrell in the race for Seattle mayor, meaning it is nearly mathematically impossible for Harrell to pull ahead.

There are a little over 1,300 ballots from Seattle voters left to count, according to King County Elections. There's a possibility the race could go to an automatic recount, though it's looking unlikely.

What they're saying:

Katie Wilson's campaign released the following statement after pulling further ahead in the Seattle mayoral race Wednesday afternoon:

"We are tremendously grateful for everyone who has supported and guided our vision for the city of Seattle. This campaign was driven by a deep belief that we need to expand the table to include everyone in the decisions that impact their lives. That is what we will be working to do every day as we set up this new administration."

Bruce Harrell plans to provide an address to the city of Seattle on Thursday at 12 p.m.

Harrell's campaign did not immediately respond for comment regarding Wednesday's ballot count. It's currently unclear whether he plans to concede the race or request a recount.

Will there be a Seattle mayoral race recount?

By the numbers:

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, King County Elections showed Wilson with 50.19% (138,489) of the vote while Harrell had 49.48% (136,513) of the vote. This comes weeks after Harrell took an election night lead of 7.14%, but last-minute votes skewed heavily toward Wilson, rapidly shrinking his lead and eventually putting her ahead by Monday.

Latest WA election results

The race could go to a recount if the difference between candidates is less than 0.5% and also less than 2,000 votes. Given Wednesday's numbers, Wilson's 1,976-vote lead over Harrell falls within the mandatory recount threshold, though she has surpassed the 0.5% difference in votes.

King County Elections said Wednesday that every ballot at its facilities has been counted, though there are still 1,320 ballots from Seattle voters with signature challenges, and a very small number of mail-in votes coming in from overseas. Those with contested ballots must verify or correct their information by Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in order for their vote to be counted. Voters can track their ballots online.

Harrell or Wilson may request a recount "within two business days" after the official results are declared. Whoever requests the recount is required to pay for it, which costs $0.25 per ballot for a hand recount, or $0.15 per ballot for a machine recount. Election results are certified on Nov. 25.

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.

"The homelessness crisis is going to be a very, very top priority for me. We have a aggressive timeline in the first six months of next year, leading up to the FIFA World Cup to really tackle the homelessness crisis as it affects the downtown core and adjacent neighborhoods," said Wilson.

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.

"You know, we're going to wait for everything to be counted, but I think, I feel that we won this race," said Katie Wilson when FOX 13 Seattle caught up with her on Tuesday.

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.

Harrell's campaign issued the following statement regarding Tuesday's results in the mayor's race:

"While not the direction we were hoping for, this remains a very close race, and we want to ensure every vote is counted. We are grateful to our volunteers, who continue to reach out to voters, and will see how the final ballots are tallied."

What's next:

Election Day marks only the first ballot drop of many, and county elections offices have been tabulating thousands of votes over the past week.

When will the next batch of King County election results be released?

The next update for King County election results will be Thursday afternoon.

King County officials remind the public that information on vote margins needed to pass various ballot measures can be found on the county's November General Election page.

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