Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle, leads progressive union organizer Katie Wilson in the mayoral race with 62,086 votes (53.32%) to Wilson’s 53,767 (46.18%), according to state numbers.
The Associated Press reported that it will likely take “several days” to determine who won the race and that ballots in Washington state have to be postmarked by Election Day, which means “a substantial portion of the vote is counted after Tuesday.”
Wilson, who has accused Israel of “genocide,” is endorsed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Both she and Harrell are Democrats.
Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, told JNS before polls closed on Tuesday that “Washington Democrats are proud that two strong Democrats advanced through the primary for the Seattle mayoral election.”
A widely circulated “voter guide” for the greater Seattle area, of unknown origin, urged support for Harrell, calling him “a decent leader, who has maintained public safety and condemned antisemitic terror.”
The guide noted that Wilson’s organization, the Transit Riders’ Union, shared a post on Oct. 13, 2023, just days after the Hamas attack, which stated that “the overwhelming silence from Seattleites on the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians isn’t surprising given our overall apolitical-conservative leanings, but I certainly won’t be joining in the ‘business as usual’ attitude towards genocide.”
The guide also stated that Wilson’s union told voters to endorse “uncommitted delegates” in order to “stop funding war and genocide in Gaza and call for a ceasefire now.”
Jared Sclar, a political consultant who assists with pro-Jewish PACs, told JNS on Tuesday, while voting was underway, that it is “disappointing, but not surprising, that moderates in Seattle appear to be losing ground to far more radical replacements.”
Voters should “pay more attention, vote more consistently and stay engaged long after ballots are counted,” Sam Jefferies, of the Kids Table PAC, told JNS.
“Will it even be close? She was up by 20 points in the primary. I don’t think he can pull that out,” Jim Walsh, a legislator and chairman of the Washington state GOP, told JNS on Tuesday.
Comparing Wilson to Zohran Mamdani—who was elected mayor of New York City later on in the night—Walsh told JNS that the Seattle race is “a junior varsity version of that.”
“Wilson is strikingly unqualified and incompetent to be the mayor of a large city,” he said. “Her politics are also Marxist and also what we used to call ‘champagne Socialist’ or ‘limousine leftist.’ That’s dangerous because these people are frauds.”
Walsh called Mamdani and Wilson “weak, empty vessels that will get filled up with an ideology that is truly dangerous.” Though Wilson’s campaign is collapsing in its final days, the incumbent is “an inconsequential mayor and a bit of a buffoon, so there’s no good choice,” he said.
On Monday, the Northwest Progressive Institute reported low voter turnout at just 19.75%, slightly below the 2023 low of 19.86%. The Seattle Channel stating on Tuesday that “four out of five King County voters still haven’t returned their ballot.”
The channel’s post included a chart, suggesting that the 65-plus age bracket represented the largest percentage of returned ballots at 41.8%, with 18- to 24-year-olds at 7.94%.
Jake Simpson, a representative from Wilson’s campaign, told JNS on Tuesday that the campaign is “feeling optimistic.”
“We’re not letting our foot off the gas until 8 tonight,” he said. “Turnout around the county is low, but we’ve seen in Seattle that there’s obviously more than the county at large.”
He said that Wilson would be hosting an election results watch party tonight at a Beacon Hill restaurant. “The campaign team and Katie all feel like we’ve accomplished something pretty special this year,” he said.
JNS asked about Wilson’s plans if she is elected.
“Those plans will be rolled out if Katie succeeds in winning, but I can’t speak to those right now,” Simpson told JNS.
Simpson told JNS that he hasn’t seen the Jewish voter guide nor heard about Jewish endorsements for Harrell. He declined to comment on either.
