Katie Wilson Projected to Become Seattle's Next Mayor

Katherine Barret Wilson, known more commonly as Katie Wilson to Seattle voters, is projected to be Seattle's next mayor after tonight's ballot count by King County Elections.

Wilson is now 1,976 votes ahead of incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell. It's a lead her opponent is unlikely to overcome with only challenged ballots and a few remaining mail-in ballots left to count.

Wilson joins a new wave of young, progressive candidates who won elections in Seattle and beyond, most notably Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Similar to Wilson, Mamdani ran against what some may call the "establishment" candidate. And like Mamdani, her visionary platform highlights transportation, childcare, and housing affordability.

The results came as no surprise to Wilson's campaign. Her campaign manager, Alex Gallo-Brown, told the Emerald by text earlier in the day that they believed today's drop would be "definitive."

In a phone call, Gallo-Brown said Wilson's campaign was holding off on declaring victory until after Harrell's address to the city.

In a press release sent out shortly after the results were updated, Harrell scheduled an "address to people of the city of Seattle" for Thursday, Nov. 13, at noon.

Chief of Staff for King County Elections Kendall Hodson said that although local publications have traditionally called races, ballots will continue to be counted until Nov. 24. Ballots are expected to continue trickling in until then, as long as they are postmarked by election day.

"Nothing is official until Nov. 25," said Hodson.

While the race results have been slow, they've been nothing but nail-biting. As early as last Friday, both candidates had vowed to have every vote counted in a process called "curing." Ballot curing is a process to correct minor voter errors, such as a mismatched signature, no signature, or a signature on the wrong location of a ballot.

Harrell was ahead of Wilson by seven percentage points on election night, leading to what some call one of the tightest mayoral races in Seattle history. As of Tuesday night, Wilson had pulled ahead of Harrell by just over 1,300 votes. Many Seattle political pundits saw this coming, since voters who submit their ballots on election night tend to skew younger and more progressive.

The 43-year-old will be Seattle's third mayor to identify as a woman. She follows Jenny Durkan, who held office from 2017 to 2021, and Bertha Knight Landes, who had a two-year term in 1926 and was the first woman to hold office in any major U.S. city.

Throughout the campaign, Harrell cited Wilson's political inexperience. He also accused her campaign of racism and, after KUOW published a profile of Wilson, questioned how she pays for childcare.

But the voters, and their confidence in the transit advocate, have spoken. Wilson's relatability, whether it was her time bussing dishes, her experience as a renter, or her lack of a car, trumped Harrell's association with Seattle's wealthy and elite.

Through the Transit Riders Union, an organization the Oxford dropout and toddler mom cofounded, Wilson has been able to organize successful progressive campaigns. Along with Rainier Beach High School students, Wilson helped make King County Metro free for all school-age kids and offer subsidized fares to low-income riders, had a hand in raising the minimum wage in Burien and Tukwila, and helped strengthen renter protections.