Left-wing activist Katie Wilson emerged as the top vote-getter in Seattle’s mayoral primary, edging out incumbent Democrat Mayor Bruce Harrell.
Wilson is co-founder of the Transit Riders Union and a former writer for The Stranger newspaper. She secured 46.21% of the vote in the nonpartisan contest, compared to Harrell’s 44.86%, with the two advancing to the November general election under Seattle’s top-two primary system.
Harrell, who has been mayor since 2022, is widely seen as a more moderate Democrat, while Wilson’s is being compared to Zohran Mamdani, the socialist nominee who won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary this summer.
Even though they are both Democrats, Wilson has the support of the King County Democratic Party and several Democratic district committees. Her campaign is centered on taxing the rich, housing, transportation, and progressive governance.
A June op-ed in The Urbanist called Wilson “a progressive who would break a long run of timid centrist leadership” in Seattle, comparing her rise to that of Mamdani and Minneapolis socialist candidate Omar Fateh.
Like those candidates, Wilson is seen as a challenge from the Left to establishment Democrats.
While Harrell maintains a base of support among more centrist voters and has overseen a relatively stable term during a tumultuous time for the city, he has faced criticism from both the right and the left. Conservatives blasted him for describing a Christian concert and pro-life event in the city as an “extreme right-wing rally.”
Still, a victory in November would make Harrell Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels left office in 2009.
Tuesday’s primary also delivered setbacks for other incumbents. Republican City Attorney Ann Davison trailed progressive challenger Erika Evans, a former federal prosecutor, in her re-election bid. Evans left the US Attorney’s Office after President Trump’s second-term immigration policies took effect, and she has sharply criticized Davison’s tough-on-crime stance. Evans supports a public health and social service-based approach to crime, including expansion of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program.
A key message of Evans’ campaign, as explained by The Stranger, has been that Davison is “Not Like Us,” highlighting the city attorney’s party affiliation in a city where Republicans are a minority.
Wilson’s strong showing comes amid a series of left-wing primary wins in Democratic strongholds, including Mamdani’s victory in New York and the July endorsement of socialist Omar Fateh over incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey in Minneapolis by the local Democratic Party. In Anchorage, the pattern is the same: MayorSuzanne LaFrance, who changed her affiliation to undeclared, is the Democrats’ candidate.
