Latest news with #KatieWilson
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Seattle Mayoral Race Shows Progressive Shift, Mirroring New York
A progressive community organizer who campaigned on affordability is narrowly ahead of business-friendly Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in the city's primary, a result that has echoes of the recent Democratic mayoral race in New York. First-time candidate Katie Wilson was leading Harrell by more than 5,000 votes as of Thursday morning in the non-partisan primary. If the results hold, Wilson and Harrell will advance to the November general election under the city's top-two system, in which the top leading vote-getters move forward regardless of party affiliation.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Seattle on track to elect wokest mayor ever who wants to slash police budget in crime-plagued city
Seattle is on track to elect one of the farthest left candidates in its history as the city suffers severe homelessness, violent crime waves and budget crises. Katie Wilson, 43, a former union leader who has pledged to 'Trump-proof' the Democrat-led city in Washington state, holds a narrow lead in her primary showdown with incumbent mayor Bruce Harrell. With the final results of the primary expected to take days to calibrate, Wilson holds 46.21 percent of the vote to Harrell's 44.85 percent. The final two in the race will face each other in November's general election. No other candidate broke five percent. Wilson launched her campaign for Seattle Mayor in March, and held her announcement at one of the homelessness-ravaged city's shelters. If elected, she has pledged to fight Donald Trump 's crackdown on illegal immigration by refusing federal orders targeting immigrants and demanding the Seattle Police Department don't 'assist in arrests for civil immigration violations', her website states. She has also vowed to establish an 'Asylum Seeker Rapid Rehousing voucher program' that would provide migrants with two years of free housing subsidies, and instate a number of climate change policies. Wilson previously called to defund the Seattle Police Department, a policy that has seemingly not hurt her candidacy despite Seattle suffering through one of the worst crime waves in the nation in recent years. The city's residents have a shocking one-in-129 chance of being a victim of a violent crime, and was determined to be safer than just one percent of all US cities, according to crime statistics outlet Neighborhood Scout. Wilson appeared surprised on Wednesday as the primary results tilted her way, telling KOMO that 'we were not expecting to be ahead on the first drop, right?' As an activist and general secretary of the Seattle-based Transit Riders Union, Wilson called for the defunding of Seattle's Police Department during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots. In an article she penned for PBS titled 'What defunding Seattle Police could look like, Wilson celebrated the fact that calls to 'shrink or even abolish police departments have gained a foothold remarkably quickly.' She wrote that while calls to take away anti-riot gear such as rubber bullets, water cannons and flash-bangs was a good start, these make up a far smaller part of the police budget than personnel costs. Rather, she said that Seattle should significantly reduce the number of police officers, even as the city remains in the grips of a crimewave. 'Let's take a moment to appreciate just how remarkable it is that shrinking the police force is even on the table,' she wrote. Like New York City mayoral socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, Wilson said she wants to replace cops with social workers. 'It may sound alarming, until you realize that U.S. police perform numerous functions for which armed personnel, trained for violent conflict, are unnecessary or unsuited — and often, unsurprisingly, cause harm,' she wrote. 'There's a strong argument for simply disbanding police departments and starting over: Institutional culture change is hard.' Wilson's support for defunding Seattle's police department comes as the city struggles with rampant violent crime, and it has one of the highest crime rates in America. From pre-pandemic levels, Seattle has seen a 20 percent surge in aggravated assaults. And so far in 2025, the city has seen almost 2,900 violent crimes including 212 rapes, 21 homicides and 814 robberies - an average of 13.1 violent crimes every day throughout this year. Much of this crime surge has been attributed to Seattle's issues with homelessness, with the city becoming a hotbed of vagrancy and open-air drug taking in recent years. In the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment, a report to Congress released in January 2025, analysts found that city leaders are failing to provide even basic shelter to homeless people. Over 57 percent of the city's homeless population live without any shelter, compared to just three percent in New York City. Seattle also has six times as many homeless people as Chicago and ten times as many as Philadelphia. Washington state also had over 16,200 homeless people in the recent survey, compared to just 5,600 in New York, a state with over two-and-a-half times more people in total. Seattle leaders declared a state of emergency in 2015 over its homelessness crisis, but in the time since the city's homeless population has surged a staggering 88 percent. In Washington state at-large, only the much more populated state of California has a higher homeless population, per the Seattle Times. In her plans to tackle Seattle's homelessness, Wilson has pledged to step up the city's funding of shelters and open 4,000 new units of emergency housing in four years. She cites many of the city's horrific homelessness statistics on her policy platform as she vowed to also 'treat debilitating drug use as the public health crisis it plainly is.' As she celebrated her lead over Harrell this week, Wilson said that she attributes her success to the fact that 'people want a mayor who is going to tackle the problems that they're facing every day.' However, Wilson is not elected yet and will still face a general election vote in November, with both Wilson and Harrell expected to remain in the race. KOMO News Political analyst Ron Dotzauer said after Wilson took the lead that the general election voters are likely to be far broader than primary voters. 'You certainly had a constituency that was very, very liberal that turned out in this primary,' he said. 'August 5th is not November 5th.'
Fox News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Mamdani-style activist, liberal incumbent advance to Seattle mayoral runoff
Longtime progressive activist Katie Wilson will face off against incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell in November's general election after securing the top two places in Tuesday's nonpartisan mayoral primary. Wilson secured around 46% of the vote to Harrell's 45%, according to reporting from FOX 13. Widely known for her role in helping establish and continuing to lead the left-wing Transit Riders Union, Wilson champions progressive positions such as minimum wage increases, better access to public transit and affordable housing. She has also pledged to "Trump-proof" the City of Seattle, and has been likened to New York City's Zohran Mamdani by political pundits. Harrell, who served on the Seattle City Council for more than a decade before being elected mayor in 2021, is considered the establishment candidate in the race. Both candidates raked in far greater campaign war chests than the other seven candidates who ran in Tuesday's primary, according to Seattle Ethics and Elections records. Harrell, who received nearly 100 endorsements from current elected officials, narrowly beat out Wilson when it came to fundraising ahead of the primary, bringing in a little over $500,000, according to filings. Wilson, meanwhile, brought in about $475,000 in campaign contributions. Moving on to the general election, Wilson is hoping to prevent Harrell from becoming Seattle's first mayor to win re-election in two decades. Meanwhile, Wilson has criticized Harrell for being more focused on dismantling homeless encampments than boosting the availability of shelters, and accused him of being part of the political status quo. "We need leadership that is going to listen to voters and govern in the interest of people in the city and not corporate backers," Wilson said, referring to Harrell, in a March interview with PBS. During the interview, Wilson cited Harrell's work on affordable housing, arguing he was "the face of the campaign to undermine" a proposition that would have boosted affordable housing development. But Harell has defended his record as mayor, touting to local news outlet My Northwest that his administration has "put over a billion dollars in affordable housing." "My re-election is supported by 100+ current and former elected officials, labor, as well as affordable housing, environmental, community, and transportation leaders," Harrell wrote on social media last week. "I'm proud of the broad and diverse coalition we've built to keep Seattle moving forward." The upcoming general election that will see Wilson and Harrell face off head-to-head is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washington 2025 Primary Election: A look at key races in King County and Seattle
Early results from the Primary Election on Tuesday show some close races-- with Seattle being a hot one. Seattle mayor As of the first returns, incumbent Bruce Harrell is trailing challenger Katie Wilson by nearly 1,300 votes. Both have such a lead that they will appear on the November ballot. Harrell has said that he was to continue working on public safety, and will continue work on addressing housing affordability and issues faced by small business owners. He has been endorsed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown and three former Democratic governors, among others. Wilson is the founder and Executive Director of the Transit Riders Union. She studied physics and philosophy at Oxford University before moving to Seattle in 2004. Since moving to Seattle, Wilson has led campaigns to raise the minimum wage and win stronger renter protections across Seattle, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Burien, SeaTac, Shoreline, Tukwila, and unincorporated King County. Her platform includes tackling 'skyrocketing living costs, homelessness, public safety, and Trump's cruel and chaotic attacks,' she said. Seattle City Council There are three Seattle City Council seats up for grabs, but eyes are on the Council 9 at-large position. This means the seat represents the entire city, not a specific district. Sara Nelson currently holds the seat and is running for re-election. She is also the city council president. Challenger Dionne Foster leads Nelson by 13,735 votes. Foster so far is leading with 53.69% of the vote compared to Nelson's 39.10%. Both will end up on the ballot in November. King County Executive Tuesday's primary elections in King County will include a position that hasn't been on the ballot for more than a decade. Seven candidates are vying for King County Executive, one of the highest-ranking elected offices in the county, which guides policy and budget. It will mark the first time since 2009 that the County Executive position is on the ballot. Current CEO of Sound Transit, Dow Constantine, held the King County Executive seat for fifteen years before stepping down on March 27 to become the public transit company's chief executive. In early results on Election Night, Girmay Zahilay has a lead with 103,471 votes, or 40.39%. Trailing him is Claudia Balducci, with 77,590 votes, or 30.28%. It's likely both will appear on the November ballot. Derek Chartrand, the candidate with the third most votes, trails Balducci by 45,505 votes so far. Zahllay is a former attorney who currently serves as the Chair of the King County Council and sits on the Sound Transit board. Balducci is the former mayor of Bellevue and currently serves on the King County Council. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who is Katie Wilson? A look at Seattle's mayoral candidate
The Brief The next King County primary election is happening on August 5. Katie Wilson is one of the top fundraising candidates in the mayoral race, joining several others in an effort to topple the incumbent. We look at what she stands for and why she wants to be the next mayor. SEATTLE - The race for Seattle mayor is on. Candidates are in high gear this summer ahead of the upcoming Aug. 5 primary election. This year, nine candidates are running for mayor, including Katie Wilson, the only woman in the race. Keep reading to learn who Katie Wilson is, her campaign history and her platform proposals. 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 is Katie Wilson running 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. MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE Police dashcam video shows triple-murder suspect Travis Decker days before crime Judge lifts gag order in Idaho murders case against Bryan Kohberger 1 killed in Pierce County, WA adult family home fire Idaho hiker mistaken for Travis Decker tells all Victim airlifted from Tumwater, WA crash, 18-year-old faces vehicular assault To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news. Solve the daily Crossword
