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City attorney election in Seattle, Washington (August 3, 2021, top-two primary)

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2021 Seattle elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: May 21, 2021
Primary election: August 3, 2021
General election: November 2, 2021
Election stats
Offices up: City attorney
Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections)
Election type: Nonpartisan
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2021

Ann Davison and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy advanced from the nonpartisan primary election for city attorney of Seattle, Washington on August 3, 2021 to the general election scheduled for November 2, 2021. Incumbent Pete Holmes conceded on August 6, 2021, and final results showed Thomas-Kennedy with 36.4% of the vote followed by Davison with 32.7% and Holmes with 30.6%.[1][2] According to a survey conducted by Crosscut, a nonprofit news site, the top issues for voters were housing and homelessness, police and public safety, taxes and the economy, and urban planning and transportation.[3]

Leading up to the primary election, The Cascadia Advocate's Andrew Villeneuve said that Davison and Thomas-Kennedy were "right behind Holmes as voting begins in the August 2021 Top Two election, with 53% of likely voters not sure who they’re voting for." In a poll conducted by Change Research for the Northwest Progressive Institute from July 12 through July 15, 2021, 16% of respondents chose Holmes, 14% chose Davison, and 14% chose Thomas-Kennedy.[4] Holmes won re-election in 2017 against challenger Scott Lindsay with 75% of the vote to Lindsay's 25%. As of July 19, Holmes led in fundraising with $92,691, followed by Thomas-Kennedy with $16,102 and Davison with $7,014.[5]

After attending Yale College and the University of Virginia School of Law, Holmes worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and was a business litigation attorney before being elected city attorney in 2009.[6] According to the Fuse Progressive Voters Guide, which endorsed Holmes, his priorities were "passing stronger gun laws, reducing excessive force on the part of the Seattle Police Department, vacating marijuana charges, and keeping people housed post-pandemic, among other policies."[7] Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz (D), State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti (D), King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, and a number of state senators and representatives also endorsed Holmes.[8][9]

Davison is a Seattle attorney and arbitrator and attended Willamette University College of Law and Baylor University. She ran as a Republican for lieutenant governor of Washington in 2020. Davison said the city needs "balanced leadership that makes us smart on crime: proactive not reactive” and said she would "focus on improving efficiencies within division in regards to zoning” and “transform existing Mental Health Court to specialized Behavioral Health Court for cases that involve mental health, substance use disorder or dual diagnosis."[10] Former governor Dan Evans (R), former King County Prosecutor Chris Bayley (R), former Seattle Municipal Judge Ed McKenna, and the Seattle Times endorsed Davison.[11]

Thomas-Kennedy is a former public defender and criminal and eviction attorney and attended Seattle Community College, the University of Washington, and Seattle University School of Law.[12] She ran on a platform of decriminalizing poverty, community self-determination, green infrastructure, and ending homeless sweeps. Her campaign website said "Every year the City Attorney chooses to prosecute petty offenses born out of poverty, addiction and disability. These prosecutions are destabilizing, ineffective, and cost the City millions each year."[13] The Seattle newspaper The Stranger endorsed Thomas-Kennedy.[14]

In Seattle, the city attorney heads the city's Law Department and supervises all litigation in which the city is involved. The city attorney supervises a team of assistant city attorneys who provide legal advice and assistance to the City's management and prosecute violations of City ordinances.[15] Click here to learn more about what's at stake in the general election.

Click on candidate names below to view their key messages:


Holmes
Davison
Thomas-Kennedy


Seattle also held elections for mayor and two city council seats in 2021.

  • Click here to learn more about the city's mayoral election.
  • Click here to learn more about the city council elections.


Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Seattle City Attorney

Ann Davison defeated Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in the general election for Seattle City Attorney on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ann Davison
Ann Davison (Nonpartisan)
 
51.6
 
132,638
Image of Nicole Thomas-Kennedy
Nicole Thomas-Kennedy (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
47.8
 
122,947
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.6
 
1,542

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 257,127
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Seattle City Attorney

Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and Ann Davison defeated incumbent Pete Holmes in the primary for Seattle City Attorney on August 3, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Nicole Thomas-Kennedy
Nicole Thomas-Kennedy (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
36.4
 
71,367
✔
Image of Ann Davison
Ann Davison (Nonpartisan)
 
32.7
 
64,179
Image of Pete Holmes
Pete Holmes (Nonpartisan)
 
30.6
 
60,093
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
500

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 196,139
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[16]

Pete Holmes

Pete Holmes

Image of Pete Holmes

Website

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office: 

Seattle city attorney (Assumed office: 2009)

Biography:  Holmes was born in Richmond, Virginia. He obtained a B.A. in American studies at Yale College in 1978 and a J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984. Holmes worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and was a business litigation attorney before being elected city attorney in 2009.


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Holmes said he has "worked at all levels of government to address needed reforms and policies to protect public safety and make sure that our criminal justice system reflects our shared values" and that he is "proud of his record holding accountable those who violate our laws, supporting small businesses, and working with proven diversion programs to assist people in crisis."

On criminal justice reform, Holmes said that investing in mental health care, substance abuse programs, and housing would reduce crime, and "it’s less about defunding the police but investing in the right things, and then see what policing you really need at that point."

Holmes said homelessness should be addressed by first providing shelter for those without housing:  "I’m very much a housing-first advocate. You have to stabilize people who are living on the streets, who are being victimized by crime, who are sleeping in the rain, or are trying to numb themselves."

Show sources

Sources: Holmes for Seattle, "About Pete," accessed July 19, 2021Litigo, "Interview With Pete Holmes," June 10, 2021KIRO 7, "Surprisingly tight race for Seattle city attorney as voting begins," July 19, 2021; Holmes for Seattle, "About Pete," accessed July 19, 2021

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Seattle City Attorney in 2021.

Ann Davison

Ann Davison

Image of Ann Davison

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography:  Davison received a B.A. in sociology from Baylor University and a J.D. from Willamette University College of Law. She worked for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1996 to 2001 and was a law clerk in Marion County District Attorney’s Office in Salem, Oregon. She became a practicing attorney and arbitrator in Seattle in 2005.


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Davison said the city needed "balanced leadership that makes us smart on crime: proactive not reactive” and that she would "focus on improving efficiencies within division in regards to zoning” and “transform existing Mental Health Court to specialized Behavioral Health Court for cases that involve mental health, substance use disorder or dual diagnosis."

Davison said that repeat offenders are under-prosecuted in the city: “The experience we all have in the city of Seattle is the under prosecution of the crimes. … There is a clear neglect in the city.”

Davison said that increasing the Seattle Law Department's budget would not result in better outcomes, because "the last 12 years of what we had is not working. We can see that the programs that are there, although many are well-intentioned, we’re not seeing the measurable outcomes that we need to have for the public, and for those who are the most vulnerable, needing our help.”

Show sources

Sources: Neighbors for Ann, "Meet Ann," accessed July 19, 2021KIRO 7, Surprisingly tight race for Seattle city attorney as voting begins, July 19, 2021Seattle Times, "The Times recommends: Ann Davison for Seattle city attorney," July 15, 2021; Neighbors for Ann, "Meet Ann," accessed July 19, 2021

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Seattle City Attorney in 2021.

Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Image of Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography:  Thomas-Kennedy graduated from Seattle Central College and Seattle University Law School. She worked as a public defender and criminal and eviction attorney. In 2020, Thomas-Kennedy "left the public defender's office to take pro bono activist defense work, part-time public defender contract cases, and volunteer with the National Lawyers Guild."


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Thomas-Kennedy described herself as an abolitionist and said the biggest difference between her and other candidates was "I don’t believe the system is redeemable. My goal as a prosecutor would be to dismantle it, not to try to fit it into some sort of a softer punishment system."

Thomas-Kennedy said she would stop prosecuting most misdemeanors and "the resources that are currently devoted to prosecution of misdemeanors could go for things that are going to make the community safer, things that are going to create health and stability for everyone who lives here."

Thomas-Kennedy said "I want people to know that there isn’t a choice between safety and compassion" and "If people can see that there is a way forward, if people can recognize that this is not working — I hope that they vote for me" 

Show sources

Sources: South Seattle Emerald, "Abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy Announces Last-minute Run for City Attorney," June 10, 2021; NTK for Justice, "About," accessed July 19, 2021

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Seattle City Attorney in 2021.

Noteworthy primary endorsements

This section includes noteworthy endorsements issued in the primary, added as we learn about them. Click here to read how we define noteworthy primary endorsements. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Primary endorsements
Endorsement Holmes Davison Thomas-Kennedy
Newspapers and editorials
Seattle Times[17] ✔
The Stranger[18] ✔
Elected officials
Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz (D)[19] ✔
State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti (D)[20] ✔
State Sen. David Frockt (D)[21] ✔
State Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D)[22] ✔
State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D)[23] ✔
State Rep. Liz Berry (D)[24] ✔
State Rep. Kirsten Harris-Talley (D)[25] ✔
State Rep. Nicole Macri (D)[26] ✔
State Rep. Gerry Pollet (D)[27] ✔
State Rep. Javier Valdez (D)[28] ✔
State Rep. Roger Goodman (D)[29] ✔
Individuals
Former King County Prosecutor Chris Bayley[30] ✔
Former Gov. Dan Evans (R)[31] ✔
Former State Supreme Court Justice Faith Ireland [32] ✔
Former State Sen. Adam Kline (D)[33] ✔
Organizations
Northwest Carpenters Union[34] ✔
UFCW Local 21[35] ✔


Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Pete Holmes

Campaign website

Holmes' campaign website stated the following:

“
  • About Pete
First elected in 2009, Pete Holmes has worked at all levels of government to address needed reforms and policies to protect public safety and make sure that our criminal justice system reflects our shared values. Holmes has helped change statewide sentencing laws to protect immigrants from deportation, worked to both legalize cannabis and vacate past possession criminal records, developed new incarceration diversion programs to help young people avoid lifelong criminal records, and redoubled the city’s efforts to address gun violence. Pete has served as a consistent liaison between the City and the federal judge overseeing the Department of Justice consent decree to ensure that lasting and meaningful structural changes are enacted at the Seattle Police Department.
Upon taking office, Pete dismissed all pending marijuana possession cases and declined to file subsequent charges. He became a primary sponsor of Initiative 502, culminating in Washington’s historic 2012 vote to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use. He has been and remains an outspoken critic of the War on Drugs.
In his first year as City Attorney, Pete also took action to reduce prosecutions of people driving with a license suspended in the third degree, also known as “driving while poor.” To avoid mandatory deportation of documented immigrants convicted of minor crimes, he further instructed prosecutors to stop requesting suspended jail sentences totaling 365 days. Pete subsequently helped convince the Legislature to limit the maximum jail sentence for all misdemeanors to 364 days, limiting the reach of dysfunctional federal immigration laws across the state. He also successfully defended Seattle’s status as a Welcoming City to immigrants despite a Trump Administration’s ongoing hostility.
Pete partnered with King County to launch a groundbreaking regional firearms unit to enforce civil extreme risk gun surrender orders, one which was recently used in partnership with federal authorities to a seize weapons arsenal maintained by white supremacist neo-nazi accelerationists. A champion for police reform, Pete was an original member of Seattle Police Department’s first civilian oversight body, the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board, and served as chair for 5 years. He is also a member of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
Pete hasn’t hesitated to defend Seattle’s interests, suing opioid manufacturers for the havoc they wrought against public health, beating back Tim Eyman’s unconstitutional and harmful measure that threatened Seattle transit service, and he took on the Monsanto Corporation for the toxic PCB pollution the company caused to Seattle’s Duwamish River. He is a founding member of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence and Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration. Governor Inslee appointed Pete to the state’s “Sunshine Committee” to ensure government transparency and public access to records.
Pete was born in Richmond, Virginia. The middle child of five brothers, he grew up on a small family farm in Buckingham County, where he attended a public school. Prior to serving as Seattle’s City Attorney, Pete worked in Seattle as a business litigation attorney for almost 25 years. He graduated from Yale College in 1978 with a B.A. in American Studies. He worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., in Washington D.C., before earning his J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984.
Pete and his wife, Ann, are the proud parents of two adult children and live in South Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood.[36]
 ”
—Pete Holmes' campaign website (2021)[37]


Ann Davison

Campaign website

Davison’s campaign website stated the following:

“
  • General Goals
Our city must reconcile that it is failing to meet the needs of the most vulnerable as well as the basic functions of protecting public health and safety. Twelve years of status quo in the City Attorney’s office has greatly contributed to our decrease in the livability of Seattle for everyone. Factual observations tell us clearly this status quo approach is not working for anyone here, but for those wanting to engage in enterprise crime, those seeking to commit violent offenses, or stay in power. With apathy from the current City Attorney in place of prosecutorial discretion, public health and safety are now at a critical state.
When I moved to Seattle in 1996 for a job in the Sonics’ front office, our city had found a way to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our city. Before my first child was born, in 2008, walking to the courthouse downtown was safe. But by the time I had my second child in 2011, our streets were becoming dangerous. Now, employees and jurors are told not to use the main entrance because it’s so unsafe, and recently 33 judges have urged the condemning of the park right outside the courthouse doors. The same can be said for many of our neighborhoods. The current city attorney was elected in 2010.
When my kids began to ask questions about why people were left living alongside Seattle’s roadways in unconscionable conditions, less humane than in a UN Cambodian refugee camp where I worked with people fleeing civil war, it was time to become civically engaged. With the exact same motivations as my previous campaigns because Seattle as experienced no improvement on homelessness, this ONE seat change can directly impact public health and safety for everyone. We must see change in this office because even our children know what’s happening in our city isn’t right. It is that obvious.
We've known in Seattle now for the last two decades that homelessness is a growing problem. But we've been so busy fighting each other, filing lawsuits, campaigning to block ideas that we perceive as imperfect or having some unintended consequences, that we've found ourselves with no progress at all. This fight will never be won by winning more people over to our own point of view. Instead, we make progress by focusing on our community and everyone in it as a whole. It's comforting to think that there are villains in this story - big bad government, large corporations, law enforcement, courts, and other systems that have contributed to our current situation. And all of these organizations have their faults - they all need to do and be better.
The real promise lies with each of us - our ability to listen, to have more actual empathy for the people with whom we find ourselves in opposition; to understand the needs, hopes and dreams of everyone in our community, especially our most vulnerable neighbors. The best solutions will happen when we change the incentives that have led us to where we are, incentives around law enforcement, housing development, and the delivery of services. Sometimes the best path forward is emotionally unintuitive for us, but we have to be willing to put the needs of others ahead of those emotional intuitions. It might mean changing the way we police or enforce rules, or creating alternatives to jail, or incorporating new services in jail to give people who do end up there the chance to leave better than when they entered. But it doesn’t mean we don’t maintain the limits for societal activity that elected policymakers have made into laws.
It's more expensive to hide from the problem, hoping it will go away if we are just forceful enough, than it is to deal with it head-on. For the majority of people in Seattle, homelessness is the single most important issue of our time. Solving it will require every single one of us to take stock of what we can do to address it. I can think of few positions that hold more promise for progress than that of the City Attorney of Seattle.
The City Attorney is a critical link to public safety, downtown and in our neighborhoods, deciding when to prosecute many types of criminal activity. We need balanced leadership that makes us smart on crime: proactive not reactive. We need a collaborative leader bringing actual compassion, who seeks progress and establishes working relationships within our city and region to restore public safety. By fixing this critical link of public health and safety and ending 12 years of status quo, we will begin to see improvement in the livability of our city. We can create a safer, more compassionate city for all of us.
  • Criminal Division
  • Transform existing Mental Health Court to specialized Behavioral Health Court for cases that involve mental health, substance use disorder or dual diagnosis.
  • Provide medicalized treatment and care for substance use disorder when needed for in custody cases.
  • Continue bail reform progress.
  • Monitor high frequency people at the highest level of the office for when alternatives do not provide responsiveness
  • Improve review of case referrals.
  • Civil Division
  • Provide trusted legal advice to those deciding policy in our city
  • Set clear compliance standards for city departments
  • Focus on improving efficiencies within division in regards to zoning
  • Administrative Division

Focus on not increasing budget but better service to Seattle for same dollars. The budget has been growing 50% faster than the city budget, with 13,000 referrals in 2019, 7,300 charged and less than 1,000 cases going to court.

  • Administrative: 10M (30% of budget)
  • Civil: 15.6M (44% of budget)
  • Criminal: 8.6M (24% of budget)
  • Precinct Liaison .7M (2% of budget)
 ”
—Ann Davison’s campaign website (2021)[38]


Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Campaign website

Thomas-Kennedy’s campaign website stated the following:

“
  • Decriminalize Poverty
Stop prosecuting most misdemeanors
As a Public Defender I saw up close who the City chooses to criminalize. The City Attorney's office prosecutes poor people, almost exclusively. Prosecutions for stealing things needed to survive --small amounts food, sleeping bags or socks from Goodwill--are shockingly common. Those too poor to pay bail are kept in jail for months unless they plead guilty to be released. Each charge makes finding housing and employment more difficult. Those living paycheck to paycheck lose jobs or housing while jailed, those living in cars have them towed thereby losing every last worldly possession. Our unsheltered neighbors are criminalized for doing things common to all people (sleeping, having disagreements, going to the bathroom) because they are not done in a private and personal space. With every prosecution poor people become poorer and more desperate. Prosecuting poor people has not, will not, and was never meant to solve poverty. I will not prosecute people for trying to meet their basic needs and survive. It is a cruel waste of time and resources.
End the failed “War on Drugs”
The next City Attorney will have significant power to decide the future of Seattle’s policy for this health crisis. The war on drugs is a racist, classist, expensive failure. The repeated cycle of prosecution and incarceration only exacerbates conditions that lead to poverty and substance use while doing nothing to address the underlying issues. Residents experiencing substance abuse or dependence are not receiving critical health care and support to truly transition them towards a safer life. Substance use disorders require safe injection sites, needle exchanges, and professional guidance to curb public health risks. I will not waste vital resources prosecuting misdemeanor drug possession. I will instead partner with community programs like People’s Harm Reduction Alliance and the HaRRT Center-- critical resources for community health and safety. Rather than punishing residents for health conditions or forcing them into treatment before they are ready, I will push Seattle to ensure proper medical care, housing, and essential services necessary to reduce the harm of substance use on the community, and on individuals.
Fund victim’s services, harm reduction, and non-coercive treatment options
I will make survivors of trauma, and their recovery, the first priority of the Office, rather than an accessory to a conviction. The City Attorney’s office staffs victim advocates for some who experience domestic violence. These services are limited and are contingent on a vulnerable person’s cooperation with re-traumatizing legal proceedings. I will expand these services offered by the City Attorney’s office, and they will no longer be contingent on criminal charges.
Survivors of domestic violence, physical abuse, and other forms of trauma need access to care. Support services are not widely available or accessible, especially to people in poverty who are disproportionately affected by violence.I will collaborate with community programs that provide this critical care and support to create genuinely healthy and safe communities.
I will not prosecute disability. Individuals experiencing mental or emotional issues must have an alternative to armed confrontation with police when in crisis. The City has a responsibility to provide supportive and safe responses to people in crisis that don’t put disabled people at risk of death or incarceration. Not only does SPD commonly arrest our disabled neighbors experiencing mental health crises, the City Attorney then prosecutes them, often over the objection of the family members who called for help. Jail and punishment do not address or ameliorate mental health problems. I will collaborate with the City Council to to provide unarmed, properly trained professionals who can assess, de-escalate, and support people in need instead of throwing away money punishing people for disabilities.
Defund SPD
Pete Holmes refers to himself as a leader in police reform, but the events of last summer: rampant police violence, chemical weapons unleashed nightly and repeated provably false lies told by SPD to the public laid bare the fact that SPD answers to no one. The federal consent decree, negotiated and overseen by Pete Holmes, has failed to curb police violence. Holmes has used the consent decree and the guise of “reforms” for too long to mask SPD’s inherent dysfunction. Commissions, measures, data gatherings, federal oversight, and multiple offices of “accountability” have failed to keep Seattle safe from its own police.
It is time to have the courage to face our problems and correct our course. I will not capitulate to police unions during the next contract negotiations. I will push the City Council to significantly cut SPD’s budget every year while my office-- led by the community--builds up programs of genuine justice and real accountability. In order to reduce violence it is imperative that we redirect misguided funds wasted on police into community care.
  • Community Self-determination
Support grassroots programs of restorative/transformative justice
The City Attorney’s Office is tasked with pursuing justice and ensuring safety, and yet marginalized communities have been targeted for arrest and imprisonment for decades. The only justice to be found in such a system is in its destruction. Our current system of mass incarceration has deep roots in colonialism and slavery from residential schools to slave patrols, our laws have never been applied equally. Even in progressive Seattle where Black people comprise 7% of the population, they still make up nearly 35% of those prosecuted by the City Attorney. Despite Indigenous people making up .4% of our population, they make up 3% of these prosecuted by the City Attorney. We must end the cycle of trauma caused by our racist carceral system and dismantle this entire infrastructure of violence.
Once elected, I will collaborate with community groups to develop structures of true accountability and transformative justice that can take the place of current criminalization and prosecutions. A lot of this work has already been started by community groups and needs to be expanded. Programs like Community Passageways and Choose180, for example, have practical and effective methods for empowering communities that disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and equip people with the skills they need to avoid repeated encounters with the criminal punishment system. The practice, the results, and the research already exists; the only thing missing is the political will to change.
Work with affected communities to create programs that meet their stated needs
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office has been so focused on punishing perpetrators that victims have become an afterthought, with little to no resources allocated to pursuing accountability and healing. The current method of addressing situations like domestic violence, mental health crises, and substance abuse are to prosecute and incarcerate people without addressing the root causes of their criminalized behavior. The effects of these policy decisions have been devastating to poor, Black, and Brown communities and have only worked to make the City less safe for everyone.
Even when the City does provide victim services, they are system-based advocates focused on helping victims navigate the overwhelmingly complex criminal legal system. They don’t provide the resources needed to actually get people back on their feet. Unhoused folks who steal food because they’re hungry don’t leave jail with an apartment and food benefits lined up to make sure their needs are being met. Victims of domestic violence don’t get free housing and childcare to safely leave their abusers. The City Attorney’s Office has been systematically destabilizing communities under the guise of “public safety” while taking resources away from what we know actually makes our City safer: housing, food security, and access to non coercive healthcare.
As Seattle’s next City Attorney, I will listen to affected communities and make space for them to create programs that meet their actual stated needs. Lawyers and judges have no business dealing with the complex issues of mental health crises or substance abuse disorders. Experts in these areas already exist and they’ve been advocating for safe use sites, expanded mental and behavioral health services, and community based stabilizing, healing, and supportive programs that prevent violence instead of simply exacting retribution after the fact. As an elected official, I will work with community experts to dismantle our criminal punishment system and replace it with a prevention oriented and transformative justice approach that address and reduces the conditions that lead to violence.
  • Green New Deal
Divest city pensions from fossil fuel corporations and the banks that fund them
My office will prioritize people over profits, including the profits of the fossil fuel industry. The legislative and the executive branches of the Seattle City government have committed to a Green New Deal, which states “The City envisions a future where Seattle residents can live healthy, prosperous lives, free of toxic chemicals and fossil fuels, and the social and ecological well-being of all people is prioritized over the profit of private corporations.” I will enact that vision with action, not wishful thinking.
It’s time to put our money where our mouth is. I will push to divest the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System - which oversees over $3.7 billion in assets for public employees and their beneficiaries - from the energy sector and fossil fuel corporations. Fossil fuels are not a growth industry and are a poor investment for the 19,000+ individuals whose retirements are stewarded by the Retirement System. To demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable, green future, Seattle must divest from any banks that fund pipelines, which continue to threaten Indigenous sovereignty. Instead, these assets should be invested in sustainable, growing, and regenerative technologies that fight climate change. I will work with the City to craft policy that achieves these goals, and join the growing number of cities and states divesting from this deadly industry.
Sue fossil fuel companies for the lasting and irreparable harm they have caused our city
Fossil fuel corporations are the biggest perpetrators of greenhouse gas emissions, and they continue to extract, produce, and promote their products despite knowing how these emissions contribute to global climate change. This environmental destruction disproportionately harms Black and Indigenous communities. In 2019, after mounting community pressure by a broad coalition of activists and tribal members, Pete Holmes promised he would file a lawsuit against oil companies on behalf of our City. Months later the City Council wrote a letter encouraging him to make good on his promise. More than three years later, despite devastating wildfires, heatwaves, and an ocean on fire, that promise remains unfulfilled. Seattle can’t afford to wait any longer. I will make good on the promise to hold these companies responsible for devastating and dangerous messes they have left us with so that we can finally begin to enact the vision of the Green New Deal.


Advocate for an end to exclusionary zoning and increase density
Exclusionary zoning (aka restricting the number and type of housing that can be built in a certain area) is steeped in racist ideology meant to protect property value by keeping renters, apartment-dwellers, and poor families of color out of white, home-owning neighborhoods. These zoning laws also have harmful environmental impacts. Limiting the number of housing units drives up costs for everyone, pushing people further away from urban centers and necessitating development on previously undisturbed land. Restricting density and prohibiting multi-family units also increases the need for employees to commute to work, resulting in traffic congestion and ballooning carbon emissions. Low-income and other marginalized communities are more likely to live along busy highways and become exposed to unhealthy levels of pollution. These practices also exacerbate disparities in access to green spaces.
It’s time to put an end to this. I will advocate for and collaborate with the City Council to craft legally sound legislation to end the exclusionary zoning rules that currently stifle over 50% of Seattle land use.
  • The People’s lawyer
Drastic increase in resources to fight wage theft
Employers steal billions from low-wage workers each year. Nationwide, minimum wage workers alone are cheated out of 15 billion dollars a year. Another study found that 68% of low-wage workers had experienced at least one wage violation. Wage theft creates economic insecurity and can result in acts of desperation that make our city less safe. The amount of capital lost through wage theft is larger than all theft, burglary, robbery, and car theft, combined. Wage theft is a crime, but it is never prosecuted by the Seattle City Attorney.
Workers deserve better. I will significantly increase the number of lawyers in the office working on wage theft. I will develop a legal clinic where individual workers can obtain legal advice and assistance, and I would sue companies that commit large scale wage theft in Seattle on behalf of the City. Wage theft is prevalent because it is easy and profitable. My office will not be focused on punishment for bosses or fines for the government; we will concentrate our efforts on ensuring workers regain the income they lost and providing protections against future abuse. Businesses will stop stealing from their employees when legal action no longer makes such theft profitable.
Aggressively protect tenants rights against abusive corporate landlords & sue to overturn the ban on rent control
Just like workers, renters are often the victims of hostile corporations. Renters now outnumber landowners in Seattle, but still tenants are treated as secondary to homeowners. The Council recently passed some modest tenant protections, which is great. Actual implementation of protections leaves a lot to be desired because some policies, for example, require police investigation, while relying on community groups and nonprofits (not the City) to provide most tenant support.
Seattle residents must be protected against powerful landlords. As rental costs skyrocket, we need to defend the tenants’ rights that have already passed, and also litigate to implement the strongest tenant protection there is: rent control. To solve our housing crisis, we need the trifecta of immediate housing, an end to apartment bans, and rent control. I will do my part as the People’s Lawyer by trimming the wasteful criminal division budget so it can be re-allocated to the community, collaborate with the council to end exclusionary zoning that stands in the way of developing multi-family housing, and sue the state over the ban on rent control so that the people who work in Seattle can afford to actually live here too.
Challenge I-200, the state’s ban on affirmative action
I will sue the state to abolish I-200, the Tim Eyeman initiative banning affirmative action. This ban has had a measurable negative impact on BIPOC communities. There is no place in Washington where that impact has been greater than in diverse Seattle. Over time this ban has destroyed women- and BIPOC-owned businesses. It is time to stop waiting for the state to fix this. I will sue the state to overturn the ban. Seattle’s Black population fell from 13% to 6% over the past 20 years. If Seattle is to be the progressive beacon we claim to be, then we must undo a ban that is at the forefront of Seattle’s economic segregation.
Getting rid of the ban is the right thing to do. Our current City Attorney says he supports repealing it, but is waiting for a Mayor to direct him to do so. I do not need such direction. We must make this investment so that all of Seattle’s communities can flourish. The positive impact will ripple out into the City as a whole.
  • Stop the sweeps
Challenge the City to end these expensive acts of cruelty
Our unhoused neighbors, who often live together in encampments for their safety and a sense of community, are increasingly under attack. The city continues to conduct brutal sweeps of encampments, forcibly displacing these communities and regularly destroying their belongings.
The number of sweeps ballooned from more than 500 in 2016 to just shy of 1,200 in 2019, despite showing no evidence of reducing homelessness. Last year, space in our city’s shelters were limited due to Covid-19 shutdowns. The city, under Jenny Durkan, said it would halt sweeps. The CDC recommended cities halt sweeps. And still, the sweeps continued. A 2020 report found that the fastest way to solve King County’s homelessness problem would be to build 15,700 affordable homes for those facing immediate lack of housing. But the city continues to pursue a punitive approach, which is inhumane, wastes resources and has not moved us closer to transitioning the houseless to permanent housing. Additionally, these sweeps have emboldened independent groups to violate the unhoused by invading their encampments and disposing of their possessions, many of which are necessary for survival. I will call on the City Council to end these inhumane and ineffective practices, and defend the City against lawsuits challenging their authority to do so.
Redirect wasted dollars towards long-term solutions
In 2019, sweeps cost Seattle at least $8 million dollars. Earlier this year, the city paid $10,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who was callously uprooted and had her belongings destroyed by SPD’s Navigation Team during a sweep. Over 20 people were arrested protesting this particular sweep. If the city continues to violate the civil rights of people experiencing homelessness, including the right to due process before being deprived of property, these types of lawsuits will inevitably become more common. And as people rightfully seek damages over the removal or destruction of their property, the already unreasonably high cost of these sweeps will skyrocket.
The price tag and inhumanity continue to swell and we’re no closer to a solution. As the City Attorney, I will appeal to city leaders to strive for real solutions to homelessness instead of those intended to demoralize unsheltered Seattleites. The money we waste on sweeps, fences, and other hostile architecture, should be used to create more permanent low-income and truly affordable housing.
Support on-the-ground mutual aid
Not only has the city ignored the CDC and continued tent encampment removals, last year SPD’s Navigation Team repeatedly and intentionally damaged PPE and first aid materials of on-the-ground mutual aid groups who provide crucial services to unhoused people. During a smokey season that forced most of Seattle inside for nearly two weeks last summer due to unsafe air quality, it was mutual aid groups that delivered water, masks, and ice to heat sick camp residents. When the Mayor finally opened a handful of cold weather shelters this last winter, it was mutual aid groups dropping off coats, propane, and heaters to people freezing on the streets. As the City Attorney, I will encourage city leadership to provide support to mutual aid groups and provide unsheltered communities with basic essentials to support public health—trash pick-up, mobile bathrooms, and street sinks, and other survivial supplies. [36]
 ”
—Nicole Thomas-Kennedy's campaign website (2021)[39]


Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Pet Holmes

Supporting Holmes


A sample ad from the candidate's Facebook page is embedded below. Click here to see the candidate's Facebook Video page.


Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Supporting Thomas-Kennedy

"Nicole Thomas-Kennedy for Seattle City Attorney. Justice, not jails." - Thomas-Kennedy campaign ad, released July 16, 2021


Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls


Seattle city attorney, 2021: Primary election polls
Poll Date Holmes Davison Thomas-Kennedy Other/Undecided Margin of error Sample size Sponsor
Change Research July 12-15, 2021 16% 14% 14% 53% ± 4.3 617 Northwest Progressive Institute


Campaign finance

The following chart shows campaign finance information from the most recent filings with the Seattle Ethics and Election Commission. It was last updated on July 20, 2021, and does not include candidates who dropped out of the race or did not file reports.

What was at stake?

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August 3, 2021
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Election history

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Seattle, Washington (2017)

Seattle held general elections for mayor, city attorney, and two at-large seats on the city council on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on August 1, 2017. The top two vote recipients after the final count of the primary vote advanced to the general election. The filing deadline for this election was May 19, 2017. Incumbent Pete Holmes defeated Scott Lindsay in the general election for city attorney of Seattle.[40]

Seattle City Attorney, General Election, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Pete Holmes Incumbent 74.91% 145,062
Scott Lindsay 25.09% 48,583
Total Votes 193,645
Source: King County, "November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed November 28, 2017

2013

Holmes won re-election without opposition in the general election on November 5, 2013.[41]

About the city

See also: Seattle, Washington

Seattle is a city in King County, Washington. As of 2020, its population was 737,015.

City government

See also: Mayor-council government

The city of Seattle uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[42]

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Seattle, Washington
Seattle Washington
Population 737,015 7,705,281
Land area (sq mi) 83 66,455
Race and ethnicity**
White 65.8% 73.5%
Black/African American 7.1% 3.9%
Asian 16.3% 8.8%
Native American 0.5% 1.2%
Pacific Islander 0.3% 0.7%
Other (single race) 2.4% 4.8%
Multiple 7.6% 7.1%
Hispanic/Latino 7.1% 12.9%
Education
High school graduation rate 95.2% 91.7%
College graduation rate 65% 36.7%
Income
Median household income $97,185 $77,006
Persons below poverty level 10.2% 10.2%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


See also

Seattle, Washington Washington Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ King County, "August 3, 2021 Primary," accessed August 18, 2021
  2. ↑ Crosscut, "Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes concedes primary election," August 6, 2021
  3. ↑ Crosscut, "Seattle Elections 2021: Digging deeper into voters’ top priorities," June 22, 2021
  4. ↑ The Cascadia Advocate, "A three-way race for Seattle City Attorney: Pete Holmes barely ahead of two challengers," July 16, 2021
  5. ↑ City of Seattle, "Campaigns," accessed July 19, 2021
  6. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "About Pete," accessed July 19, 2021
  7. ↑ The Cascadia Advocate, "A three-way race for Seattle City Attorney: Pete Holmes barely ahead of two challengers," July 16, 2021
  8. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "About Pete," accessed July 19, 2021
  9. ↑ Seattle Times, "Endorsements roll in for Seattle mayoral, council races," July 15, 2021
  10. ↑ The Cascadia Advocate, "A three-way race for Seattle City Attorney: Pete Holmes barely ahead of two challengers," July 16, 2021
  11. ↑ Neighbors for Ann, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  12. ↑ South Seattle Emerald, "Abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy Announces Last-minute Run for City Attorney," June 10, 2021
  13. ↑ NTK for Justice, "Platform," accessed July 19, 2021
  14. ↑ The Stranger, "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August 3, 2021, Primary Election," July 14, 2021
  15. ↑ City of Seattle, "City Attorney," accessed July 20, 2021
  16. ↑ In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
  17. ↑ Neighbors for Ann, "Endorsements," accessed July 20, 2021
  18. ↑ The Seattle Times, "Endorsements roll in for Seattle mayoral, council races," accessed July 20, 2021
  19. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  20. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  21. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  22. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  23. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  24. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  25. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  26. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  27. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  28. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  29. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  30. ↑ Neighbors for Ann, "Endorsements," accessed July 20, 2021
  31. ↑ Neighbors for Ann, "Endorsements," accessed July 20, 2021
  32. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  33. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  34. ↑ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  35. ↑ [https://www.holmesforseattle.com/endorsements/ Holmes for Seattle, "Endorsements," accessed July 19, 2021
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  37. ↑ Holmes for Seattle', “About Pete,” accessed July 20, 2021
  38. ↑ Neighbors for Ann, “Goals,” accessed July 20, 2021
  39. ↑ NTK for Justice, “Platform,” accessed July 20, 2021
  40. ↑ King County, Washington, "Who has filed: 2017 candidate filing," accessed May 19, 2017
  41. ↑ King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Election," accessed June 21, 2017
  42. ↑ City of Seattle, "Elected Officials," accessed September 15, 2014
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