Katie Wilson’s Grassroots Campaign for Mayor of Seattle Is a Pro-Democracy Movement
On election night I had a chance to interview Seattle’s democratic socialist candidate for mayor, Katie Wilson, who has led in the polls throughout this election over incumbent Bruce Harrell. Wilson has been cast as a strident newcomer to the political scene while Harrell is seen as the establishment candidate. Wilson’s grassroots campaign struck a populist tone invoking affordability, housing, mass transit, childcare, and progressive taxes.
National media have compared her insurgent campaign with Zohar Mamdani’s surprising rise to power in New York City. Both are self-described socialists. Wilson and Mamdani are challenging the Democratic party as well as Republicans. They represent change at a time when democracy is at risk. Trump’s authoritarian agenda has shocked and angered many voters. A new pro-democracy movement seems to be taking shape in some areas of the country where people are resisting the far right attempts at mass indoctrination. On No Kings Day in Seattle an estimated 90,000 people marched and rallied against Trump and MAGA.
Katie Wilson told the overflow crowd on election night, “This is your city!”—a refrain that has become a populist rallying cry at her campaign events. She has presented herself as a friend of the working class and folks living in poverty and desperation. In contrast, Bruce Harrell is seen by many political observers as part of an elite neoliberal power base that has embraced hiring more police and cast aspersions on Wilson’s idealistic campaign and social goals.
She described her opposition’s tactics as “bad faith attacks by PACs in Seattle” who spent $2 million trying to defeat her. That’s a five-to-one ratio in terms of campaign spending, and yet Katie Wilson has forced many establishment politicians and pundits to sit up and take notice of this new progressive political movement she helped to spearhead.
Wilson has never run for political office before. She founded the Transit Rider’s Union, which she claims has been very effective in influencing regional transit planning. The mayoral candidate thanked TRU and courageous community leaders for their assistance in her campaign.
“We represent hope for the future, not fear or anger. I’m proud that we ran a clean campaign—going after our opponent’s record, not his character.”
Wilson ended her address in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle by stressing that her campaign wants “land and wealth stewardship by the community, not by corporations”.
Wilson has voiced concerns about lack of funding and support for independent media. She’s proposed community-based models of funding media through which stakeholders can pool their resources to support nonprofit and public-owned media. I was surprised when she agreed to give our news organization exclusive access and a brief interview while making members of the corporate media wait until her official press conference. I think the decision on that matter reflects her attitude about mega media monopolies—I suspect she’s not all that impressed by their coverage of her campaign. Like Mamdani, she faces a neoliberal establishment and press corps who are openly skeptical of socialists. Her proposals are presented by corporate media as idealistic, unrealistic, social utopian daydreams, but they can’t ignore her high polling numbers.
No matter what the results of the election may be, a relatively unknown community activist has been able to launch a strong well-organized campaign against an incumbent backed by corporate giants and super PACS. That is an impressive gain for the principle of democratic action, grassroots organizing and power to the people!
