The incumbent strikes back: Harrell leads on Election Night as Wilson’s hope lies in later voters

Harrell and family attended a speaking appearance by Kamala Harris Tuesday night at Benaroya Hall before his Election Night party (Image: Bruce for Seattle)

Wilson in a clip from a last minute campaign video to supporters Tuesday night

After running from behind following a terrible showing in the August primary, Mayor Bruce Harrell is starting from ahead in November with an Election Night lead.

The first tally Tuesday showed the incumbent up 53% to 46% over challenger Katie Wilson, the progressive organizer and leader at the Transit Riders Union who has helped lead minimum wage and renter rights campaigns around the region.

On a night with socialist Zohran Mamdani declared the winner of New York City’s race for mayor, Wilson said hope was at the core of her campaign as she waited for the results Tuesday.

“I think it’s really grounded in hope and in a vision of the city that we can build together,” Wilson said.

Seattle’s history of late progressive voters will also help Wilson’s chances. With Washington’s by-mail system, ballots will continue to trickle in over coming days. In past races, progressive candidates have generally seen their tallies rise as the later ballots arrive.

The most classic example? Socialist firebrand Kshama Sawant overcame a nine-point Election Night deficit in her 2019 re-election run.

Unlike the mayoral battle, the city’s other races will begin the November counts from points closer to the primary when a group of upstart progressives turned in impressive showings over their more moderate opponents.

Tuesday night, Erika Evans scored a clear victory over incumbent City Attorney Ann Davison. The former federal prosecutor, has emphasized her record as a civil rights prosecutor with a dedication to public service and personal experience with poverty in her campaign and challenged Davison over her policies including the “Stay Out of Drug Area” program.

The Seattle City Council races are also bending to the progressive. City Council president Sara Nelson continued her shaky showing in the primary with a soft just under 42% showing in Tuesday night’s first count. Nonprofit executive and former community organizer and policy advisor Dionne Foster appears headed to victory. Foster has said her efforts for the city working with low income populations and her time at nonprofits lobbying for stronger social services have prepared her for taking on issues around homelessness and for office at Seattle City Hall.

Incumbent Alexis Mercedes Rinck, meanwhile appears to be headed for a massive landslide victory over challenger Rachel Savage, a Republican and owner of Broadway crystal shop The Vajra.

Additional first counts on the night also showed both Seattle propositions likely headed toward victory. Prop 1 approves a $1.3 billion families and education levy renewal while Prop 2 will open the door for the city to overhaul its B&O tax system. Under the proposal, Seattle would exempt any business generating less than $2 million a year from the city’s B&O tax while raising the tax rate on the city’s most prosperous companies like Amazon and Starbucks. City officials say the proposal will eliminate or reduce the tax for around 90% of Seattle businesses while generating an estimated $81 million in new revenue.

In the race to replace Dow Constantine as King County Executive, Girmay Zahilay has an early lead to become “the first millennial, immigrant, or refugee” to hold the position.

Seattle School Board first counts are also below.

Four years ago, Harrell defeated progressive opponent Lorena González with a campaign focused on his career as a City Hall veteran with Central District roots and a track record of pro-business, moderate political views.

Four years later, Harrell found himself on the defensive and aggressively attacking Wilson on her privilege and lack of political experience while trying to position himself as aligned with the core Democratic Party and the safest, strongest opposition to the Trump administration.

Money also shaped the race as the campaigns have been powered by tens of thousands of dollars in contributions with Harrell reporting more than $1 million given to his campaign including just under $500,000 in Democracy Vouchers. Wilson’s campaign is reporting just under $1 million in contributions including nearly $800,000 from the publicly-supported voucher system.

More than a $1 million has also been raised by the largest political action committee supporting Harrell as smaller PACs have raised hundreds of thousands more to boost both the incumbent and the challenger.

Wilson after the Election Night drop

The Wilson campaign held its Election Night event at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill

The Broadway drop box stayed busy Tuesday. Those ballots are yet to be counted (Image: CHS)

While Wilson’s group gathered at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill, Harrell huddled with supporters and friends at Rainier Ave’s Royal Esquire Club.

Earlier in the night, he attended the appearance of Kamala Harris in a speaking engagement at Benaroya Hall as his campaign posted pictures of the mayor and the former vice president in a brief chat. During the campaign, Harrell’s re-election team trumpeted their candidate’s support from big time Democrat names including a nod from “Mayor Pete” as Democratic national leader Pete Buttigieg blessed the Harrell campaign with an endorsement.

In an unscientific survey of CHS readers Tuesday, respondents who favored Wilson cited affordability and transit as their top issues in the race while Harrell supporters focused on public safety and homelessness.

The last time an incumbent mayor was reelected in Seattle was in 2005 when Greg Nickels won a second term.

Tuesday night, Wilson called the first count “promising numbers” and promised her campaign would now turn its attention to “make sure that every vote is counted.”

“If we prevail in this race, which is very possible, it is not the end of our work together. It is the beginning,” Wilson said.

King County Elections says it will continue to collect and tally ballots with updated results released daily at 4 PM.

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