ELECTION RESULTS: Wilson maintains lead over Harrell in Seattle mayor’s race; both to speak Thursday afternoon

3:28 PM: Today’s results update is in, and has the gap between the two Seattle mayoral candidates widening a bit:

SEATTLE MAYOR
Katie Wilson – 138,489 – 50.19%
Bruce Harrell* – 136,513 – 49.48%

Wilson was .49 of a percentage point ahead yesterday and is now .71 of a percentage point ahead.

3:38 PM: Just received from the city, this media advisory:

Tomorrow, Mayor Bruce Harrell will provide an address to the people of the city of Seattle.

That’s set for noon Thursday. No hint of a topic, or even whether it’s about the election, so we don’t know if it’s a concession speech.

11:31 AM THURDAY: Wilson’s campaign has announced she’ll speak to the media at 2 pm.

Duwamesque November 12, 2025 (3:39 pm)

I would encourage everyone to reread Wilson’s statement on homeless encampments. She wrote that sweeps in public spaces will be “a practical and a political reality” and refuses to rule them out. She also wants a more aggressive strategy to increase shelter and housing, as part of a pragmatic approach to the problem. This isn’t a rerun of the Durkan days of no-sweeps.

Rhonda November 12, 2025 (4:21 pm)

Policy statements mean almost nothing. Harrell vowed to sweep dangerous encampments but let dozens of them fester in West Seattle for long periods of time. Two of the worst were allowed to expand for months near Westwood Village on Trenton and Barton.
- Duwamesque November 12, 2025 (4:37 pm)
  
  Sounds like an endorsement for change at City Hall.
- WS Res November 12, 2025 (4:37 pm)
  
  She “vowed” to “let dozens of [encampments] fester in West Seattle for long periods of time?” Wow, I missed that speech! What a campaign plank!
  - Rhonda November 12, 2025 (6:05 pm)
    
    Read my comment again, WS Res. I never wrote anything remotely akin to her saying that. I was referring to Harrell.

Russell November 12, 2025 (3:46 pm)

Is there info about Harrell’s address tomorrow? I’m guessing city hall, but what time is it?

WSB November 12, 2025 (3:59 pm)

Noon, which it says above. Location is as usual for most city events “we’ll tell you when you RSVP” so I don’t know.
k November 12, 2025 (5:35 pm)

https://theneedling.com/2025/10/04/harrell-to-spend-more-time-with-most-of-his-family/

Rhonda November 12, 2025 (3:55 pm)

At least she won’t have a mandate with this narrowest-ever margin of victory.

Jort November 12, 2025 (4:07 pm)

She won, Rhonda.
- Rhonda November 12, 2025 (5:43 pm)
  
  But not by a landslide which means no mandate, Jort.
  - Nolan November 12, 2025 (6:25 pm)
    
    Oh no! I guess it’s a good thing that every ideologically-aligned winner of Seattle elections won by at least 26 points (and counting).
    
    It sure seems to me that there’s a clear mandate for Wilson’s political positions, even if Harrell’s PAC money and sexist mudslinging sunk her personal share of votes.
  - k November 12, 2025 (6:45 pm)
    
    Someone please buy this woman an dictionary. A mandate is a social construct and has no set numerical base for declaring such. It is, however, generally accepted that any win where the prevailing candidate sits above 50% is the legitimate winner, and therefore has a mandate (as opposed to winning via plurality, which is not conventionally seen as a mandate). You can’t invent your own definitions for things, and a mandate isn’t anything but a political talking point anyway.
  - Ryan November 12, 2025 (6:49 pm)
    
    Yeah, that’s not really how elections works. You win, you get the mandate. No super majority needed. Politicians can say all sorts of things about whether they have a mandate or not…but it’s really just about whether you win the election or not.
  - Jort November 12, 2025 (7:04 pm)
    
    What does that even mean, Rhonda? A “mandate?” Huh? Is there a magical, unwritten voter percentage threshold one has to achieve to satisfy blog commentors? Can you tell me what that is and how we define it? Or is this some reference for dating (“man date”)? Katie won, thems the rules.
    - Kyle November 12, 2025 (8:12 pm)
      
      Seems like an appropriate time to mention that I started a men’s group called Mandate—we gather once a month to share space and have vulnerable discussions around mental health and how to be better men. Check us out on Instagram @mandate.sessions. Sorry you can’t join us, Rhonda.
N in Seattle November 12, 2025 (4:24 pm)

The Orange Guy would say he had a mandate (“the biggest EVAH!!”) if he’d won by one or two votes.

Which is not to suggest that Wilson will do anything remotely similar, as she’s an actual functioning human adult.
Mike November 12, 2025 (4:28 pm)

Considering the margins that her fellow pro-housing progressives got in the city council, I wouldn’t be so sure
Lagartija Nick November 13, 2025 (8:26 am)

Rhonda, at least Wilson got over 50% of the vote. Something the orange freak you support squatting in the Oval Office has NEVER accomplished.

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy November 12, 2025 (4:08 pm)

Are there still more ballots? Just curious if there is likely enough to avoid a < 2000 vote recount.

Surf Alki November 12, 2025 (4:46 pm)

It looks like the only remaining are those with signature match issues (which voters can correct through 11/24, and a “possible few with onetime postmarks that are still trickling in”. A recount is triggered “if the difference between the candidates is less than one half of 1 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 1 percent and also less than 1,000 votes.”

Eric November 12, 2025 (4:08 pm)

Seattle Times is calling it for Wilson

tim November 12, 2025 (4:45 pm)

Will she still be living with her mom? OR will the taxpayers give her a place to stay? Oh wait…her first job, hopefully she can pay her rent reliably.

K November 12, 2025 (6:24 pm)

Why would she move in with her mom after being elected when she doesn’t live with her mom now? Were you worried about Bruce moving in with his mom after he got elected?
- Jort November 12, 2025 (7:11 pm)
  
  These stories and embellishments just keeping getting more and more ridiculous. Next thing you know the comments will say Wilson is actually a 7 year old elementary student living off a stipend established by an ancient ancestor who founded a turn-of-the-20th-century rural utopian community. Remember Colbert’s “truthiness?” It doesn’t have to actually be true, isn’t it enough that it FEELS like it is true?!
  - helpermonkey November 13, 2025 (2:14 pm)
    
    Come on, Jort. We all know Katie Wilson is actually 3 raccoons in a trenchcoat.
- tim November 12, 2025 (7:23 pm)
  
  Huh? Why would I worry about Bruce Harrell? He’s a highly educated man and has completed and earned his degrees, (Masters, BA, JD). Captain of football team, blah blah, many varsity letters, with distinction, unlike others that leave before flunking out. He has always earned a living as far as I know. He can obviously take care of himself. Not worried about Bruce Harrell at all.
  - Jort November 12, 2025 (9:32 pm)
    
    Oh, my! Varsity letters! Gosh, if only I’d heard that before voting! Hey, speaking of looking back into the past, I certainly do remember reading about at 37-year-old Bruce Harrell waving a gun at a pregnant woman outside a casino over a parking spot dispute. Is that something you can get a letter for on your letterman’s jacket?
  - K November 12, 2025 (10:07 pm)
    
    Ah, he’s a man, so you don’t have to worry. Gotcha!
Nolan November 12, 2025 (6:30 pm)

“Are you still beating your wife? OR have you stopped?”
Lauren November 12, 2025 (7:04 pm)

I also really dislike this line of thinking that inter-generational living means someone is “unfit.” I live in an intergenerational household, by choice. It has its challenges and also has many, many benefits for everyone involved.
Sam November 12, 2025 (7:27 pm)

Frankly the idea that our next mayor will not be independently wealthy is disgusting. She probably takes the bus. Gag. Will she even be able empathize with landed gentry?
- cwit November 13, 2025 (10:38 am)
  
  I endorse this comment from Sam!

Jethro Marx November 12, 2025 (5:34 pm)

I did not vote for a candidate in the mayoral race, because I didn’t feel either of them were likely to do a good job.

There are some of us who are interested in the discussion yet either don’t vote or write in “null” or “none of the above” or whatever because that’s the best choice when one does not support either choice. There’s a lot of chatter about voter apathy and “if you don’t vote you can’t complain” yadayada but that’s dumb and oversimplifying the problem.

I do wish (likely) Mayor-elect Wilson well and hope her plans are able to be enacted and also yield the results she imagines.

I do not expect this will happen, of course; I think it’s far more likely she’ll struggle to get things done, people will not behave as planned, and 3 years from now we’ll be hearing that she should be reelected to try again because we’ve learned from our mistakes.

Churro Strength November 12, 2025 (6:22 pm)

I skipped to the end after you said you didn’t vote for either.
- Jethro Marx November 12, 2025 (7:59 pm)
  
  Excellent. I remember this one time when our emperor had a parade; I closed my eyes and swore he was resplendent.
  - Churro Strength November 13, 2025 (2:46 pm)
    
    You had an opportunity to vote and you refused. Why should I care about your position on an election you didn’t participate in?
    - Jethro Marx November 13, 2025 (4:23 pm)
      
      You should know absurdity when you see it: if you trust the people enough to choose their own leaders but not enough to respect those who choose “neither of these goofballs” you’re just shilling for the people who benefit by the current system. I’m sure some people would rather feel in control than consider whether they were propping up a rotten system. I can’t say I respect that opinion but I do consider it.
anonyme November 13, 2025 (6:15 am)

Same here, Jethro. In another few years we’ll be doing this all over again with all of the same comments and the same hyperbolic idealism.
rlh November 13, 2025 (6:16 am)

I think I understand the point of your comment. Whether someone voted for Harrell or whether they voted for Wilson, the important thing is that you’ve found a way to feel superior to them either way.
rlh November 13, 2025 (8:03 am)

I think I understand the point you’re trying to make. Regardless of whether someone voted for Harrell or if someone voted for Wilson, what matters is that you’ve found a way to feel superior to both of them.
- Jethro Marx November 13, 2025 (12:47 pm)
  
  I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or feigning incomprehension or some other humor form that’s beyond me, but I didn’t say anything about anyone else’s vote or the reasons behind it; I shared my own and the reasons behind it. And then wished our Mayor-elect well while also being honest about my expectations. Where did you gain your understanding from?

onion November 12, 2025 (6:04 pm)

Running a large city such as Seattle is notoriously difficult. We’ll see if neophyte Wilson can do better than other recent Mayors — Durkan, McGuinn, Harrell, Burgess, Murray. In my opinion, the last decent mayor was West Seattle’s own Greg Nickels. I am extremely skeptical about her being up to the task.

Ron November 12, 2025 (9:43 pm)

Agreed. She lacks the experience…The current mayor is not the answer…But you have to choose…

Keenan November 12, 2025 (7:15 pm)

I’ve lived in Seattle for 15 years. 12 in West Seattle as a homeowner.In all that time, all I’ve heard from people online, whether it’s Reddit or on here, are complaints. Everyone hates the mayor. Everyone thinks the city council is a bunch of bums. Then they throw them out and complain about the next batch of bums.I always though it was funny. Whoever has sat in the Mayor’s office has not affected my life in this town at all. AT ALL! Seattle is the same as it was when I got here – beautiful, wealthy, full of great people and opportunity. I came from Detroit, a real dump. This city is paradise compared to anywhere in the rust belt.The problems the boomers on this blog complain about ad nasuem – homeless people, housing affordability, traffic – are issues in every desirable city in America, especially on the west coast. No mayor of Seattle has solved or can solve those nationwide problems.The comments on this blog are just embarrassing. The thread from yesterday got absolutely roasted by /r/Seattle and I thought you folks would have gotten it out of your system, but nope. It’s the same histrionics tonight. Take a breath people. Seattle has not fallen to communism. Just because we have a mayor elect who might keep working people in mind when she goes about her duties instead of only considering which wealthy donor friends she might further enrich, will not destroy capitalism in this city or drive all of the “job creators” away. We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and you just elected a mayor that seems to honestly care about the common man, who I believe will try her best to make things a little bit better. Please try to appreciate that and not be so miserable.

Greystreet November 13, 2025 (8:06 am)

I couldn’t agree more Keenan, we have almost an identical timeline. I’ve followed the WSB the entire 14 years I’ve lived in WS and it’s wonderful but the vitriol in the comment section is so discouraging. For a community that seems to lift each other up in one post there is no hesitation in cutting each other down in another. I always joke with my partner that I’d love for everyone to show up to Lincoln Park in white t-shirts with their WSB handles printed on the front; I’m curious if the in-person interactions would be the same as the keyboard warrior ones. You are correct, this city is like any other and there is no magic bullet to fix all of the problems with the flick of a switch. It’s comically predictable how this community will react to city council decisions, mayoral candidates, light rail choices, bus routes, bike paths, healthy streets, road closures, BRIDGE closures and whatever else comes down the pike. Everyone deserves to be heard, absolutely, but for once it would be nice to read a spin that is more optimistic that maybe a non-traditional change is exactly what this city needs instead of throwing every kind of insult at it. Just like Jort said the other day, maybe, just maybe Katie Wilson will be a good thing and she will be able to accomplish some of the things she sets out to do. What a novel idea! I’m here for it, giving her a chance to prove herself instead of hurling aggressive insults and assumptions at someone I don’t even know. And for the record stop with all of the negative speech about her parents helping her with childcare, it is not your business NOR a reason to render a negative opinion about someone’s fiscal abilities or parenting style; in fact, I call it “appropriately mobilizing resources available to you”. Cheers Keenan and Cheers WSB, I’ll still be reading.

Ve November 12, 2025 (7:18 pm)

I think the job will overwhelm her and she won’t be able to handle what is required and expected and time commitment neededShe’ll soon see obstacles and how difficult it will be In over her head

SunriseHeights November 12, 2025 (8:51 pm)

Why?

Del Griffith November 12, 2025 (7:32 pm)

I didn’t vote for her but I really hope she surprises me. Seattle is a great city and anyone who can move it forward in a meaningful way deserves applause. I hope she is different, but the things I’ve disliked about our local city and county progressive leaders in the past are:

1. They seem like they have nothing to bring to the table beyond more taxes. Everything gets down to another tax, which can sometimes make things worse (i.e. rising property taxes on retired folks with fixed incomes). I’d like to see some more creative and practical solutions.

2. Non-enforcement really hit the city hard for a few years and I hope we don’t go back to that. It’s still shocking to think about the parking ticket revenue debacle (and the $5M loss) that happened when the city council tried to defund the police and screwed things up.

3. Every mayoral candidate makes bold promises on housing but they never deliver. It would be nice to see some good progress on this front.

Best of luck to Wilson.

JP November 12, 2025 (11:07 pm)

This is a pretty good summary of the local politics here. Candidate platforms are pretty much rinse and repeat of #1 and #3. Non-enforcement was disastrous and things visibly improved the more we distanced ourselves from the political ilk of Durkan, Herbold, etc. As onion noted, running a city of this size must be extraordinarily difficult. Constant churning through appointees is not likely to make our governance more productive. There has been some incremental improvement since this city hit rock bottom and I felt the incumbent did fine enough to justify re-election. The newly elected candidate lacks experience and frankly the charisma needed for the job. Time will tell…
- anonyme November 13, 2025 (6:16 am)
  
  Yup.

Plf November 12, 2025 (8:36 pm)

She still looks like a deer in the headlights hope she surrounds herself with trust worthy folks to help her get acclimated I worry her lack of experience is so acute. Systems, managing people, grants contractszero experience. Talk about OTJ (on the job training). Going to be a bumpy ride for the city and let’s hope no disasters happen during her watchmayor Nicholas hope you can mentor her she’s so in over her head

ltmmgm November 13, 2025 (6:55 am)

👍 to Keenan, Del Griffith and JP!

Admiral2009 November 13, 2025 (9:04 am)

Del – agreed.

WSB November 13, 2025 (11:33 am)

Just added above, Wilson is speaking to the media at 2 pm today.

John November 13, 2025 (12:07 pm)

Quite pleased that Seattle squeaked by with a win on this one. Seattle has always been a city dedicated to being a home for greedy corporations; this election is a sign Seattleites do want local politicians who take an interest in people being able to live in the city.

Sorry, comment time is over.