Katie Wilson's lead grows as late ballots shift Seattle mayoral race dynamics

SEATTLE — Katie Wilson’s lead over incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has slightly widened, according to a Tuesday afternoon update from King County Elections.

Wilson now holds 50.08% of the vote, compared to Harrell’s 49.59%, a margin of 1,346 votes: 137,217 to 135,871. When speaking to KOMO News Senior Reporter Chris Daniels, Wilson told him that she believes she has won the mayoral race.

Harrell had a lead of more than 10,000 votes on Oct. 8 and was ahead by eight points, but that advantage steadily shrank as election-day ballot box returns were processed.

Wilson cut the gap to 4,300 votes by Oct. 7 and has since closed it entirely, pulling ahead in what remains a razor-thin race.

A recount is triggered "if the difference between the candidates is less than one half of one percent and also less than 2,000 votes," and a manual recount is done if "the difference between the candidates or responses is less than one quarter of one percent and also less than 1,000 votes.

Political analysts note that in Washington state, ballots returned on or just before Election Day often skew more progressive. That trend may be fueling Wilson’s late surge. Despite trailing in early returns, the self-described socialist has remained confident she is on a viable path to victory.

"I think we're in a really exciting moment, and I am so looking forward to working with County Executive Girmay Zahilay," Wilson continued on Monday. "And I think that there are some similar dynamics playing out here to what's going on in New York City with Mamdani's victory. I think affordability is just a key issue for so many people across the country right now. And yeah, I think that we're seeing a new generation of leadership come into office, and I think our next job is to show that we can govern and make progress on the issues that people are facing in their daily lives."

In the August primary, Wilson finished ten points ahead of Harrell. Both candidates campaigned on similar priorities, with public safety and the homelessness crisis topping their agendas. Wilson argued that Harrell has already had his chance to address those issues as mayor.

“We are in this moment where people are looking around and not seeing the progress on the homelessness crisis and public safety that they hoped to feel over the past four years,” Wilson said.

Harrell, meanwhile, said his administration is making progress every day and has proven to be “agents of change.”

“I think we presented a strong platform and are the most qualified and prepared for this job,” Harrell said. “We recognize that many people remain unhappy with the conditions they see, and we have to empathize and see it through their lens.”

King County Elections said updated results will be posted daily around 4 p.m. until all ballots are counted.

https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-mayoral-race-katie-wilson-bruce-harrell-incumbent-challenger-king-county-election-results-socialists-political-analysts-razor-thin-edge-politics-homelessness

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5796554&forum_id=2...id.#49422206)

Nice to see some Pig Latino representation in politics

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5796554&forum_id=2...id.#49422212)