2025 Seattle mayoral election

Harrell announced his campaign for a second term in December 2024, and entered the race with the endorsement of numerous Washington government officials. Harrell was initially considered to be heading to an easy re-election. If re-elected, Harrell would have become the first Seattle mayor elected to a second term since Greg Nickels in 2005. In a February 2025 special election, Seattle voters passed Proposition 1A, which created a new business tax to fund social housing, over Proposition 1B, an alternative proposal endorsed by Harrell and business leaders that would have pulled funding for social housing from an existing tax. The result was widely considered to be a victory for Seattle's progressive wing, and a rebuke of Harrell heading into an election year. Community organizer and activist Katie Wilson's entry into the race in March was considered to be a significant progressive challenge to Harrell. Wilson, the co-founder and general secretary of the Seattle Transit Riders Union and a former columnist for Cascade PBS, had led activist campaigns for expanded public transportation access, minimum wage increases, and tenant protections across the Seattle area. Wilson said the passage of Proposition 1A had inspired her campaign. Another high-profile progressive challenger was actor Ry Armstrong, the only candidate other than Harrell and Wilson to raise more than $100,000 in funding by the campaign filing deadline in mid-May. Capitol Hill business owner Rachel Savage cited Mallahan's entry and wealth as her reason for bowing out of the race and running for Seattle City Council District 8 instead. Harrell would ultimately face seven primary challengers, including Wilson, Armstrong, and Mallahan. == Primary election ==

Candidates Declared • Ry Armstrong, member of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission and candidate for city council in 2023 (party affiliation: Democratic) • Clinton Bliss, doctor and candidate for mayor in 2021 • Joe Mallahan, former vice president at T-Mobile US and runner-up for mayor in 2009 • Katie Wilson, community organizer (party affiliation: Democratic) • Thaddeus Whelan, U.S. Army veteran • Isaiah Willoughby, convicted felon and perennial candidate Withdrawn • Rachael Savage, business owner (party affiliation: Republican) (running for city council) Endorsements Polling Results == General election ==

Candidates • Bruce Harrell, incumbent mayor • Katie Wilson, community organizer Post-primary endorsements Polling Results A consultant representing Harrell from Northwest Passage Consulting predicted that Harrell would be favored in the counting of the final ballots. Independent analysts of the election predicted Wilson will win based on previous results of late ballots for progressive candidates. Decision Desk HQ originally called the race for Harrell, but later retracted the call. By November 11, a narrow majority of the counted ballots were cast for Wilson. On November 12, some media organizations called the race for Wilson. Decision Desk HQ made a call for her the next day. Wilson prevailed in denser areas, leading in more heavily-urbanized precincts of the Capitol Hill and the Central District, as well as performing strongly in the areas with prominent multi-family developments. Furthermore, she did well with younger voters, securing the precinct hosting the University of Washington. Conversely, Harrell led in the city's wealthier coastal areas and neighborhoods with more common single-family housing. By congressional district Harrell narrowly outran Wilson in the portion of the seventh district representing most of the city He secured just slightly more than half of the vote there, prevailing by 4,045 votes. In contrast, Wilson won in the smaller portion of the ninth district representing the southeast portion of Seattle, winning by 6,056 votes. Their performance mirrored the 2021 election, when Harrell carried the seventh district and González led in the ninth; however, Harrell ceded ground in both, losing 9.84% and 7.24% of the vote, respectively. == See also ==