Who is Katie Wilson? A look at Seattle's next mayor
Katie Wilson wins Seattle mayoral race, FOX 13 projects
FOX 13 Seattle projects Katie Wilson will unseat incumbent Bruce Harrell in the 2025 Seattle mayoral race, after pulling ahead of Harrell by 1,976 votes Wednesday afternoon.
SEATTLE - Katie Wilson was projected Wednesday to be the next mayor of Seattle, the third woman in city history.
Wednesday's ballot drop kept Wilson 1,976 votes ahead of Bruce Harrell, meaning it is nearly mathematically impossible for Harrell to pull ahead. Wilson was the only woman who ran in the 2025 race for Seattle mayor.
Keep reading to learn who Wilson is, her campaign history and her platform.
Katie Wilson (Courtesy of Wilson for Seattle)
Who is Katie Wilson?
Wilson is perhaps most well known locally for cofounding and acting as executive director of the Transit Riders Union, a "democratic membership organization that has become a powerful voice for working people across Seattle and King County."
Her campaign has touted Wilson's role in designing the ORCA LIFT program.
Dig deeper:
The mayoral candidate arrived in Seattle in 2004, following her physics and philosophy studies at Oxford University and upbringing in New York state.
Prior to founding the TRU, Wilson was a policy and politics writer for what is now known as Cascade PBS, PubliCola, The Stranger and The Urbanist.
Katie Wilson announces candidacy for Seattle mayor
Timeline:
In March 2025, Wilson made headlines as she threw her hat in the ring for the city's top elected spot. The special election in February over funding for the Seattle Social Housing developer was a convincing factor for Wilson to enter the race, according to a report from Cascade PBS on March 12.
Wilson held her official campaign launch at the Cal Anderson Park Shelter House on Mar. 29.
What platform did Katie Wilson run on?
Wilson's website lists the following issues as top priorities, in part, should she be elected:
Addressing homelessness in the city
- 4,000 new units of emergency housing and shelter in four years.
- Make contracting and leasing more efficient for centers addressing the fentanyl/opioid crisis.
Affordable housing and housing supply issues
- Build social housing, aim for $1 billion bond for affordable housing.
- Reform landlord practices, limit home buying by private equity firms.
"Trump-proof" Seattle
- Combat federal policies targeting immigrants and refugees.
- Use progressive revenue to fund services cut by the federal government.
Transportation and mobility
- Increase street safety for walkers, bikers, and rollers.
- Increase public transit safety, comfortability, and affordability.
Public safety
- Scale up programs targeting drug and disorder hotspots.
- Expansion of alternative response services for crises, "so police can focus on policing."
Working families
- Expanding Seattle's Paid Sick and Face Time Law
- Diversify and strengthen public school programs for families with student-age children
Climate action and environmental justice
- Updating land use code to increase housing and the number of trees in the city.
- Creating green union jobs, installing city-owned solar panels and building out bus lines.
Economic development
- Incentivize filling vacant commercial space with vacancy taxes or fines.
- Use FIFA World Cup 2026 to make permanent infrastructure and policy upgrades to the downtown Seattle core.
Progressive revenue
- Reduce job-shifting practices by companies out of Seattle
- Exempting first $250,000 assessed value from property taxes, while implementing a statewide tax on intangible property.
Katie Wilson endorsements in Seattle mayoral race
Endorsements for Wilson range from city council members from surrounding cities to housing advocates, LGBTQ+ commissioners and labor and union leaders.
In addition to individuals, some of the organizations include 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:
Following the Aug. 5 primary, the top two performing candidates will face off in the Nov. 4 election.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Katie Wilson website.
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