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Mayoral election in Seattle, Washington (August 3, 2021 primary)
- Election date: Aug. 3
- Registration deadline(s): July 26 (by mail or online) / Aug. 3 (in person)
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Ballots mailed: July 14[1]
- Voter ID: By mail, no/In person, photo ID
- Ballot return deadline: 8 p.m. on Aug. 3, or postmarked by Aug. 3 if mailed
2025 →
← 2017
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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: Mayor |
| Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections) |
| Election type: Nonpartisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2021 |
Bruce Harrell and Lorena González advanced from the nonpartisan top-two primary for mayor of Seattle, Washington, on August 3, 2021. Fifteen candidates ran. The general election was on November 2.[2] This page covers the primary election. For coverage of the general election, click here.
Mayor Jenny Durkan did not seek re-election.[3] Six candidates led the field in media attention, noteworthy endorsements, and/or campaign finances: Echohawk, Farrell, González, Harrell, Houston, and Casey Sixkiller.
Four of the six had served in city or state government. Sixkiller was deputy mayor from 2020 to 2021. González was the city council president. Harrell was city council president from 2016 to 2017 and from 2018 to 2019. Farrell was a state representative from 2013 to 2017.
Echohawk was the executive director of Chief Seattle Club, an organization providing food, healthcare, legal assistance, and housing assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native people, as of the primary.[4] Houston, an architect, owned a business and served as councilmember Teresa Mosqueda's interim policy manager.
Each candidate argued that their background best equipped them to address issues including pandemic recovery, policing and public safety, affordable housing and homelessness, and transit. Click here for more on candidates' backgrounds and key messages.
Each of the six candidates was endorsed by Democratic individuals or groups. The candidates offered an array of positions on policy questions including defunding the police department by 50%, a proposed charter amendment related to homelessness, property and sales tax increases, rent control, and zoning. Click here for more on candidates' policy stances.
Satellite spending groups featured prominently in the 2019 Seattle City Council elections. As of July 30, 2021, the groups that were active in those elections were not engaged in the 2021 elections. The three groups that had spent the most in 2021's elections were Essential Workers for Lorena, which had spent $443,000 supporting González; Bruce Harrell for Seattle's Future, which spent $266,000 supporting Harrell; and Seattle United for Progressive Change, which spent $105,000 supporting Farrell. Click here for background information on the 2019 elections.
Also running in the primary were Clinton Bliss, Henry Dennison, James Donaldson, Arthur Langlie, Stan Lippmann, Lance Randall, Don Rivers, Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Buddy Tucker.
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.[5]
Seattle also held elections for two city council seats and city attorney in 2021.
- Click here to learn more about the city council elections.
- Click here to learn more about the city attorney election.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for Mayor of Seattle
Bruce Harrell defeated M. Lorena Gonzalez in the general election for Mayor of Seattle on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bruce Harrell (Nonpartisan) | 58.6 | 155,294 |
 | M. Lorena Gonzalez (Nonpartisan) | 41.2 | 109,132 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 777 | ||
| Total votes: 265,203 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Seattle
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Seattle on August 3, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Harrell (Nonpartisan) | 34.0 | 69,612 |
| ✔ | | M. Lorena Gonzalez (Nonpartisan) | 32.1 | 65,750 |
 | Colleen Echohawk (Nonpartisan) | 10.3 | 21,042 | |
 | Jessyn Farrell (Nonpartisan) | 7.3 | 14,931 | |
| Arthur Langlie (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 11,372 | ||
 | Casey Sixkiller (Nonpartisan) | 3.4 | 6,918 | |
 | Andrew Grant Houston (Nonpartisan) | 2.7 | 5,485 | |
| James Donaldson (Nonpartisan) | 1.6 | 3,219 | ||
| Lance Randall (Nonpartisan) | 1.4 | 2,804 | ||
 | Clinton Bliss (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 1,618 | |
| Omari Tahir-Garrett (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 391 | ||
| Bobby Tucker (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 377 | ||
 | Henry Dennison (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 347 | |
 | Stan Lippmann (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 323 | |
 | Don Rivers (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 189 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 386 | ||
| Total votes: 204,764 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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.[6]
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I’m a medical doctor with over thirty years experience in hospital administration, running family/primary medicine clinics and working as an emergency room doctor in rural communities. I’ve spent my career as a medical leader developing sustainable systems that provide compassionate care for all. My core values are integrity, determination, compassion, service, vision, and action. My professional creed is to provide the kind of care that I would like to receive for myself or my family. I was trained in the bio-psycho-social model and deeply believe in a holistic and comprehensive approach to allopathic medicine. I earned my medical degree at UCLA, School of Medicine, one of the top ten medical schools in the US. I served my residency at the University of Washington. My leadership experience includes Director of Emergency Services at American Lake VA Hospital, Acting Chief of Staff at Walla Walla VA Hospital, and Chair of Swedish Family Practice Quality Assurance Committee. At Neighborcare, I treated members of underserved communities. I run a family practice in Seattle and work as ER doctor in rural communities in Washington. I am a thirteenth generation American (yes, my real family name is Bliss) and have lived in Seattle for 31 years. "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Biography: As of 2021, Echohawk was the executive director of Chief Seattle Club and a member of the Seattle Community Police Commission. Echohawk was an enrolled member of the Kithehaki Band of the Pawnee Nation and a member of the Upper Athabascan people of Mentasta Lake. She co-founded the Coalition to End Urban Native Homelessness and Headwater People Consulting Group.
Show sources
Sources: The Seattle Times, "Meet Seattle's 2021 candidates for mayor, Colleen Echohawk," accessed June 29, 2021; West Seattle Blog, "VIDEO: See how 8 Seattle mayor candidates answered 8 questions at the 34th District Democrats’ forum," June 5, 2021; Colleen Echohawk's 2021 campaign website, "Meet Colleen," accessed June 29, 2021; Seattle.gov, "About Us, Commissioners, Colleen Echohawk," accessed June 29, 2021
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Washington House of Representatives District 46 - Position 2 (2013-2017)
Biography: Farrell graduated from the University of Washington and received her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She was an Americorps volunteer and a site coordinator for the Youth Tutoring Program at Yesler Terrace. Farrell was also executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition and senior vice president of Civic Ventures. She led the state's COVID-19 economic recovery advisory group.
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Seattle City Council Position #9 At-Large (Assumed office: 2016)
Biography: González graduated from Washington State University and received a J.D. from Seattle University. She was a partner at Schroeter Goldmark & Bender. González was a founding member of the National Advisory Committee for the Latino Victory Project and served as co-chair of Casa Latina's Capital Campaign. In 2020, members of the Seattle City Council elected her to serve as council president.
Show sources
Sources: Lorena González's 2021 campaign website, "Home," accessed June 29, 2021; Lorena González's 2021 campaign website, "Seattle We Can Be," accessed June 29, 2021; The Seattle Times, "Meet Seattle's 2021 candidates for mayor, M. Lorena González," accessed June 29, 2021; Seattle.gov, "About Councilmember Lorena González," accessed June 29, 2021
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Seattle City Council District 2 (2008-2019)
Biography: Harrell received a bachelor's degree and a J.D. from the University of Washington. He worked as an attorney and in other legal positions, including as chief legal advisor to the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, the First A.M.E. Church, and the First A.M.E. Housing Corporation. During his city council tenure, council members elected Harrell president from 2016 to 2017 and from 2018 to 2019. In 2020, he led the city's COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Task Force.
Show sources
Sources: Bruce Harrell's 2021 campaign website, "About Bruce," accessed June 29, 2021; West Seattle Blog, "VIDEO: See how 8 Seattle mayor candidates answered 8 questions at the 34th District Democrats’ forum," June 5, 2021; The Seattle Times, "Meet Seattle's 2021 candidates for mayor, Bruce Harrell," accessed June 29, 2021; Seattle.gov, "About Councilmember Bruce Harrell," accessed June 29, 2021
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Biography: As of 2021, Houston owned House Cosmopolitan. He served as interim policy manager for City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. Houston was a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Sunrise Movement, Share The Cities, the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council, and the 43rd District Democrats. He was also a board member of Futurewise.
Show sources
Sources: Andrew Grant Houston's 2021 campaign website, "Home," accessed June 29, 2021; The Seattle Times, "Meet Seattle's 2021 candidates for mayor, Andrew Grant Houston," accessed June 29, 2021; West Seattle Blog, "VIDEO: See how 8 Seattle mayor candidates answered 8 questions at the 34th District Democrats’ forum," June 5, 2021; Andrew Grant Houston's 2021 campaign website, "About," accessed June 29, 2021
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle in 2021.
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Deputy Mayor of Seattle (2020-2021)
Biography: Sixkiller graduated from Dartmouth College. He worked as a legislative staffer for U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Sixkiller founded a consulting firm in 2010 that works with tribes, governments, businesses, and nonprofits. He was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Seattle 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.
Links to endorsement lists on candidate websites are included below, where available.
| Noteworthy endorsements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorsement | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Sixkiller |
| Newspapers | ||||||
| The Urbanist elections committee | ✔ | |||||
| PubliCola editorial board | ✔ | |||||
| The Stranger election control board | ✔ | |||||
| The Seattle Times editorial board | ✔ | |||||
| Elected officials | ||||||
| U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.)[7] | ✔ | |||||
| Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro (D) |
✔ | |||||
| Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz (D) | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Seattle Public School Board Member Zachary DeWolf | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle Port Commissioner Sam Cho | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. June Robinson (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. David Hackney (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Cindy Ryu (D) | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| State Rep. Strom Peterson (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Gerry Pollet (D) | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis[7] | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Kirsten Harris-Talley (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Liz Berry (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Nicole Macri (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Jesse Salomon (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Steve Bergquist (D) | ✔ | |||||
| State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D) | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle Port Commissioner Peter Steinbrueck | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle School Board Member Brandon Hersey | ✔ | |||||
| Individuals | ||||||
| Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn[8] | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Jim Street | ✔ | |||||
| Former Gov. Gary Locke (D) | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember David Della | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City and King County Councilmember Jan Drago | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Abel Pacheco | ✔ | |||||
| Former Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen | ✔ | |||||
| Organizations | ||||||
| 11th Legislative District Democrats | ✔ | |||||
| King County Young Democrats | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Working Families Party | ✔ | |||||
| Latino Victory Fund | ✔ | |||||
| Progressive Voter Guide, Fuse Washington[7] | ✔ | |||||
| Young Democrats at the UW[7] | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Unite Here! Local 8 | ✔ | |||||
| MLK Labor | ✔ | |||||
| UFCW 21 | ✔ | |||||
| Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28 | ✔ | |||||
| SEIU Healthcare 1199 | ✔ | |||||
| SEIU Healthcare 775 NW | ✔ | |||||
| SEIU 6 Property Services NW | ✔ | |||||
| SEIU Local 925 | ✔ | |||||
| Resident & Fellow Physician Union Northwest | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| LiUNA Local 242 | ✔ | |||||
| Metropolitan Democratic Club of Seattle | ✔ | |||||
| Washington Technology Industry Association[7] | ✔ | |||||
| Amalgamated Transit Union 587 | ✔ | |||||
| Communications Workers of America 7800 | ✔ | |||||
| International Association Of Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local No.7 |
✔ | |||||
| Northwest Association of Retired Black Fire Fighters | ✔ | |||||
| Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association | ✔ | |||||
| Transit Riders Union | ✔ | |||||
| Washington State Stonewall Democrats | ✔ | |||||
| Run for Something | ✔ | |||||
| Sunrise School Hubs of Washington State | ✔ | |||||
| 350 Seattle Action[7] | ✔ | |||||
| Neighborhoods for Smart Streets[7] | ✔ | |||||
- The Downtown Seattle Association rated Harrell and Sixkiller to be in "Outstanding Alignment." The group rates candidates on how closely they align with its positions based on responses to a questionnaire.[9]
Policy stances
This section compiles candidates' policy stances from local media outlets.
The Seattle Times Q&A
The Seattle Times asked mayoral candidates a series of yes-or-no questions and published responses from eight candidates. Those responses are presented below, organized by issue area. For full quotes from candidates on related and additional topics, click here.
| Public safety | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Should the Seattle Police Department be defunded by 50% or more during your mayoral term (to invest in other needs)? | No | No | Maybe | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Should police unions be allowed to engage in collective bargaining over accountability issues? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Housing | |||||||||
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Should Seattle eliminate zoning that allows only single-family houses and instead allow multi-family housing on every block (beyond current allowances for accessory units)? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Maybe | No | |
| Were Seattle allowed by the state to enact rent control, would you support doing that? | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Maybe | Yes | No | Maybe | Maybe | |
| Taxes | |||||||||
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Should Seattle increase taxes on large corporations? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Maybe | No | No | |
| Would you support raising property and/or sales taxes during your mayoral term? | Maybe | Maybe | Maybe | Maybe | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| Legal system | |||||||||
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Would you support Seattle establishing poverty and behavioral health as defenses for certain misdemeanors? | Maybe | No | Yes | No | Maybe | No | No | No | |
| Should the possession of all drugs be decriminalized in Seattle? | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Homelessness | |||||||||
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Would you vote for the proposed Compassion Seattle charter amendment, related to homelessness policies? | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Maybe | Maybe | |
| Broadband | |||||||||
| Question | Echohawk | Farrell | González | Harrell | Houston | Langlie | Randall | Sixkiller | |
| Should Seattle create municipal broadband? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Maybe | Yes | |
KUOW Q&A
Click the links below to read candidates' responses to a series of questions from KUOW. Click here for more election coverage from KUOW.
- The issue each Seattle mayoral candidate is passionate about
- How would Seattle's mayoral candidates handle pandemic recovery?
- How would Seattle's mayoral candidates tackle climate change?
- How would Seattle's mayoral candidates help businesses recover?
- How would Seattle's mayoral candidates address structural racism?
- How would Seattle's 2021 mayoral candidates address homelessness?
Campaign themes
Colleen Echohawk
Echohawk's campaign website stated the following themes.
| “ |
People First Platform My policies are reflective of the diverse population of Seattle and the experiences they have every single day. They were crafted in direct consultation from local leaders with lived experience in these topic areas. My years of community organizing have informed my approach so that you the people set the policy for this City, not special interests or corporate entities. Together we can bring equity to Seattle so that EVERY resident, whether they just moved here to pursue new opportunities or if they have lived here for decades, can reach their full potential Police Reform and Public Safety I have witnessed first hand both the good and bad of police interactions within the urban Native homeless population while leading the Chief Seattle Club for the past 7 years. I am also the only candidate with actual experience inside the Community Police Commission (CPC), giving me an unparalleled perspective into the failures of the current system right here in Seattle. As Mayor, your safety is my top priority. The only way to do this is by bringing everybody from all across our City together to ensure that all residents and visitors - particularly Black, Indigenous, People of Color and LGBTQ+ communities - feel safe, comfortable, and welcome in our City. ✔ Zero tolerance for bad cops ✔ New Chief, new contract, new culture ✔ Empower the Community Police Commissioner to be a true stakeholder in accountability ✔ Seattle Ceasefire to help individuals at the highest risk of serious violence ✔ Crisis Response Teams to respond to mental health related calls for service POLICE REFORM AND PUBLIC SAFETY Emergency Housing Action Plan Over half a decade ago a state of emergency was declared by politicians over our homelessness crisis. But instead of treating this humanitarian crisis like the emergency it is, we saw blame shifting, excuse making, and inaction from City Hall. This is why I am running for Mayor. Addressing homelessness is about results and accountability - not about optics. At Chief Seattle Club, I have seen firsthand how housing can change lives, developing 487 units of affordable housing totaling $186 million. Chief Seattle Club’s first housing project, Eagle Village, has had zero relatives enter homelessness again after being housed. I will bring that same dedication and commitment to City Hall. ✔ Rapid Emergency Housing Headquarters run out of the Executive Offices at City Hall ✔ Citywide call for a Volunteer Corps to help plan, implement, and assemble mutual aid ✔ Run a capital campaign to build 4,000 units of temporary housing ✔ Temporarily activate Seattle’s Emergency Operations Center to coordinate response ✔ Tiny homes, modular housing, safe lots, surplus City property, and hotels for emergency housing HOMELESSNESS CRISIS AND ACTION PLAN Housing Justice In 1865, the first Seattle City Council passed Ordinance #5 banning Native Americans from entering the City. This marked the beginning of a long legacy of racism and segregation in Seattle. Today, regressive zoning continues to impose de-facto redlining policies that exclude people of color from select Seattle neighborhoods. I will work with the City Council to repeal exclusionary zoning laws and allow for duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in every neighborhood. ✔ Repeal exclusionary zoning laws to allow “missing middle” housing in every neighborhood ✔ Expedite housing development by removing barriers in permitting and RFP processes ✔ Build generational ownership through long term land leases, land trusts, and a City land bank ✔ Protect tenants’ rights through rent abatement, eviction moratorium, and lease safeguards ✔ Holistic neighborhoods through workforce housing and transit-oriented communities Climate Justice Since 2006, the City of Seattle has had climate plans in place, but despite these plans greenhouse gas emissions keep going up. I envision a Seattle that is healthy for the people that live here and a Puget Sound where orca are thriving and salmon are abundant. We have an opportunity to dream a vision for strong and healthy communities with a new generation of leadership. An Echohawk Administration will establish climate justice and climate preparedness as cornerstones of how the City operates. Rooted in racial justice and Indigenous methodologies, I will work with communities most impacted by the effects of climate change to action solutions that benefit the many over the few. ✔ Office of Indigenous Affairs to value the wisdom of Indigenous peoples & Native tribes ✔ Expand Environmental Justice Fund to invest in BIPOC led environmental justice solutions ✔ Community solar programs ✔ Increase multimodal transportation infrastructure ✔ Green jobs to build stormwater / clean energy infrastructure and protect critical shoreline Transportation At Chief Seattle Club, free bus tickets are the second-most requested item from our homeless members (after meals), because transit is a lifeline. Everyone deserves to have safe and reliable transportation options to get to work, school, the grocery store, and other essential services. We all deserve to live in neighborhoods free from pollution, traffic, and preventable traffic deaths. I will make sure that Seattleites have abundant transportation options to get where they need to go and continue advocating for progressive funding so we can keep our communities moving. ✔ Connect sidewalks and bike networks while expanding walking and rolling connections ✔ Achieve Vision Zero goals to reach traffic related fatalities ✔ Reduce commute times to incentivize transit ✔ Ensure access to free or subsidized transit passes ✔ Expand very low-income fare program to cover people experiencing homelessness and with low incomes ✔ Transit-oriented communities ✔ Use an equity framework and People-First lens to identify greatest gaps Arts & Culture Let’s also be clear about how we talk about our return to gallery openings and theater premieres next year – don’t call it a comeback. Artists and cultural creatives have been here all year. They’ve been making new work and they’ve been exploring new ways of sharing that work. Artists have carried us through the darkest parts of this past year. The 1918 pandemic ended and set off the Jazz Age, the Roaring ‘20s. We could be on the brink of a golden era of artistic and cultural expression in Seattle, but we must ensure that our artists and our arts and cultural organizations have the support they need to be the engines of that revival. As mayor I will invest in artists and cultural activity, and in particular in BIPOC artists and previously underinvested and marginalized cultural communities, to lay the foundation for a more equitable and inclusive creative recovery. ✔ Make City resources available to the arts community, without requiring a direct connection to the City ✔ Redesign the 1% for Art program to bring benefit to artists, not buildings ✔ Support the creation of affordable artists housing opportunities ✔ One percent of all “One Percent” dollars will be mandated to go to Indigenous artists ✔ Leverage artists’ expertise for meaningful community engagement ✔ Reparative investments, primarily in BIPOC artists, organizations, and all marginalized communities, to address historic harms Municipal Broadband How can Seattle be one of the tech capitals of the world, from housing major STEM programs all the way to local startups, but be a City where low income residents are 5 to 7 times more likely to be without internet? The answer lies with the powerful internet service providers and the politicians they have influence over. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a clear lack of digital equity across our neighborhoods, with the areas of Central and South Seattle having the largest gaps. And the past year-and-a-half has required many of us to move our social networks online, perform our jobs virtually, and have our kids learn through a computer. I saw this through my two kids trying to learn from home and through the lack of options available to the homeless residents I served through the Chief Seattle Club. ✔ Work with the City Council to establish a new utility for municipal broadband. ✔ Provide access to all residents regardless of income ✔ Offer 100% coverage for income eligible residents ✔ Ensure our students always have access to internet ✔ Prioritize device loaner programs that can be run out of Seattle Public Libraries and 24/7 City-operated labs stationed in areas across the City Addressing Gun Violence I’ve already outlined my plan to model a ceasefire strategy based on violence reduction programs in other cities that reduced gun violence by 50%. However, in the wake of 9 shootings and 2 stabbings taking place in Seattle just within June 17-24 and recent youth victims, I have to speak out. If the City of Seattle can make a commitment for zero deaths related to traffic, then so too can it make the same commitment for zero deaths related to senseless gun violence. I propose a Seattle Ceasefire that will (1) foster youth violence prevention, (2) reduce shootings, (3) improve life outcomes, (4) reduce recidivism rates, and (5) build better relationships in the community. I want to be very clear that this is not accomplished through arrests and incarceration. This does not involve more law enforcement. Rather, we must have a community-based approach that identifies individuals at the highest risk of participating in serious violence before any incidents take place. And this identification doesn’t happen through the media or police. It happens when those who have typically used gun violence to address the cycles of trauma and harm in their lives instead turn to the community to heal. A community-based approach will ask for guidance from the community who has been most impacted by gun violence, an Echohawk administration will follow their leadership and resource community-led programs and interventions. ✔ Fund youth violence prevention practitioners at a minimum after all emergency room visits for gunshot wounds ✔ Street outreach teams, led by those with true lived experience and formerly incarcerated individuals ✔ Hospital-based intervention programs for crisis intervention, case management services, and follow up after being treated for violent injury ✔ Emphasis on Black maternal health, eliminating bias ✔ Create Office of Crime Prevention to track trends and build neighborhood-based strategy ✔ Raise the gun violence tax on firearm and ammunition sellers Food Sovereignty I believe that every Seattleite deserves access to healthy and nutritious food and the challenges of COVID-19 offers us all an opportunity to build back a truly resilient food system. In 2020, at the height of food supply disruptions, grassroots efforts mobilized partnering with large hunger relief organizations and local farmers to quickly localize our food system. I joined these efforts with my work at the Chief Seattle Club, where I worked to establish Sovereignty Farm, an innovative food and cultural access program serving an unmet need for local, Indigenously-grown vegetables and fruits. Located in Tukwila, Sovereignty Farm cultivates fresh produce to support Chief Seattle Club members first, and will expand to provide for a Traditional Foods Cafe that will also offer food items from Native farmers and producers. Chief Seattle Club also prepares up to four meals per day for its members with some ingredients sourced from donations. While this effort is honorable, we took the issue to the next level ensuring those meals were culturally relevant by honoring the principles of Native American Ancestors. Those include seasonal, local, fresh and sustainable food sources. Wherever possible we prioritize our purchases from local Native producers, like the Muckleshoot and Suquamish tribes, who fish the waters of Elliot Bay among other areas and operate a seafood business on First Avenue. As Mayor, I will disentangle the city’s food systems to provide more holistic support for farmers and celebrate the food traditions of the Coast Salish People and local food producers. ✔ Rooftop and vertical gardening ✔ Healthy foods in existing corner stores and convenience stores ✔ Food co-ops and bus stop farmers markets ✔ Zoning ordinance revisions to incentivize food trucks and allow for temporary eating facilities ✔ Require commercial buildings that are for sale in areas classified as food deserts to be offered to designated grocers and local food providers before being used for retail ✔ Partner with local tribes and community centered mutual aid programs Education As a mom of two kids, their wellbeing, mental health, and education are all very important to me. The reality is that it often costs significant money and resources directly from families to ensure these needs are met. While the Seattle Public School District and the City have different funding, mandates and accountability structures, I know there is an important role the City can play in supporting education for our young people. An Echohawk Administration will focus on Pre-K and early education, Community Support Programs, Post Pandemic Re-entry programs, Inclusion and Accessibility, Arts Education and the expansion of the Seattle Promise program. ✔ Expand Universal Pre-K to all of Seattle ✔ Community learning centers ✔ Family support workers to connect families with community services ✔ Universal access to language learning and translation services ✔ Parent Teacher Student Association’s (PTSA) that are community based ✔ Shift approach from academic emphasis to community focus ✔ Expand Seattle Promise and Creative Advantage programs |
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| —Colleen Echohawk’s campaign website (2021)[11] | ||
Jessyn Farrell
Farrell's campaign website stated the following themes.
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Pre-pandemic, two-thirds of new jobs created in Washington were in Seattle. But not enough of our community shared in that prosperity. In one of the most prosperous cities in America before the pandemic, why were so many — renters and homeowners, young families and seniors, and vulnerable communities — struggling to live with dignity in our city? To answer that question, look no further than the impending collapse of the West Seattle bridge. After years of neglecting to fix it, the bridge has become emblematic of the city’s approach to most every problem: filling cracks with no real foresight or oversight to solve the underlying problem. We can do better. As we all come together again in the wake of this pandemic, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a more just and equitable city where we all share in Seattle’s wealth and opportunity — but only if we have the bold leadership needed to truly tackle the root causes of the inequities plaguing our city. As mayor, Jessyn will enact the progressive policies we know will grow our economy, create broad prosperity, and give Seattle an unbeatable competitive advantage in attracting family-wage jobs post-pandemic — not resort to the austerity that prolonged the Great Recession for so many of us. Jessyn will work to put more money in people’s pockets and create portable benefits like retirement savings, affordable health care, and paid family & medical leave for gig workers, artists, domestic workers, and small business owners. And she’ll do so while re-imagining the relationship the mayor builds with her constituents by developing those policies in true partnership with community advocates. She will accomplish all of this because she isn’t new to the problems we’ve battled as a city, both during and before this pandemic. #FreshStart for Families Free Universal, Birth-to-Five Childcare is Essential Infrastructure We know that strong and reliable infrastructure like roads, transit systems, and internet access is essential for Seattleites to be successful in our daily lives. Without these elements, everything from running errands, to commuting, to visiting loved ones is far more difficult. The pandemic has proven that childcare is also basic infrastructure and a necessity for parents to be able to work. Families in Seattle have long struggled with the high cost of childcare in Seattle – approximately $20,160 annually – and the lack of available slots. As a working mom, I know this firsthand. Childcare workers have also struggled to make ends meet with low wages and few benefits. Investing in childcare infrastructure will help working parents, especially women, get back to work, and will create economic security for those working in the industry. Establishing free, universal, publicly-funded education for the first five years of childrens’ lives will require a significant investment. But the long-term costs of failing millions of our children and their families year after year are much, much higher. In fact, children who attend Head Start or other pre-kindergarten programs are less likely to be arrested or abuse substances later in life, and are more likely to attend and complete college. For every dollar the government spends on high-quality preschool programs it saves at least $7 in future spending on social services, remedial education, public safety and juvenile justice. If we can build childcare infrastructure such that families have access in every single neighborhood, in the way we have neighborhood schools in our K-12 system, Seattle will continue to advance our competitive edge, attracting new inhabitants, encouraging businesses to stay and locate here, and enhancing our economy. Our plan to create free, universal birth-to-five childcare includes three components: Pillar 1: Build Childcare in Every Neighborhood: Build new or upgrading existing childcare facilities with fully subsidized rent for childcare operators. Pillar 2: Ensure Childcare Is Affordable for Every Family: : Match the Biden Administration’s $300 payments per child for childcare costs. Pillar 3: Economic Stability for Childcare Workers: Create portable benefits for childcare workers. PILLAR 1: BUILD CHILDCARE FACILITIES IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD: Free Childcare Facilities in Every Neighborhood through the FreshStart for Families Plan: For years, our city’s childcare providers have endured high rental expenses due to a lack of space. Just as we do with public schools, we must ensure that every neighborhood has the childcare capacity families need. To support that major, badly-needed investment, in my first year I will transmit my FreshStart for Families plan that calls for a city-wide bond to fund new facilities and upgrades for existing facilities and family childcare.
PILLAR 2: ENSURING CHILDCARE IS AFFORDABLE FOR EVERY FAMILY 1. Giving Families Monthly Payments: Currently, both Washington state and the City of Seattle assist low-income and middle-income families in need by paying for portions of their childcare costs. But statewide, the subsidy program only assists roughly one-third of the families that use licensed childcare. To close this gap, we must subsidize the cost of childcare by delivering monthly payments to all families. These payments will match existing child tax credits in President Biden’s plan for $300/month per child under 6 and $250/month per child 6 and older. Benefits will adjust on a sliding scale for single parent households who make more than $75,000 and for two-parent households who make more than $150,000 to ensure the families who need the most assistance are receiving the majority of benefits. 2. Cutting Red Tape to Access Existing Programs: In Washington, eligible residents can get access to childcare assistance through subsidy programs. However, childcare facilities must opt in to participating programs and often do not due to low reimbursement rates and administrative burdens. Together, we must build a childcare infrastructure that simultaneously guarantees widespread access via universal acceptance of subsidized care and delivers a simplified, revenue-positive process of accepting subsidized care for our providers. First, we must increase the amount of subsidies that childcare facilities receive so that they are properly compensated for their services and time. Next, the City of Seattle must assist our childcare facilities by hiring a robust pool of shared administrative staff who will be dedicated to efficiently processing applications and paperwork so that families get care faster and facilities are freed up to focus on what matters: caring for our city’s future leaders. 3. Pass a Wealth Tax via Ballot Measure: To make universal birth-to-five childcare a reality and level the playing field for hardworking Seattle families, we need a comprehensive and robust influx of funding. The city must set a tax floor via ballot measure for wealthy households so these households contribute an annual tax based on their net worth. This will build on the work done in Olympia this session to fund early childhood education with a wealth tax on extraordinary profits while complying with Washington’s constitutional requirement that all individuals are taxed at uniform rates. PILLAR 3: SUPPORTING SEATTLE’S CHILDCARE WORKERS Working in the childcare industry requires investing time and energy into the education and training needed, as well as a commitment to serving one’s community. As such, it is long past time our city streamline giving childcare workers the wages, benefits, respect, and flexibility that they deserve. According to MomsRising.org, childcare workers are compensated so poorly in the state of Washington that they are paid less than dog groomers. As of 2018, a childcare center worker in King County made an average annual income of just $24,552. These low wages only magnify the gender and racial disparities with respect to income for our city’s childcare workers, who are disproportionately women and more than 50 percent people of color. Without higher wages, more access to benefits, and intentional policy decisions to address gender and racial disparities, the childcare workforce will continue to struggle with financial security, stable employment, and the desire to continue working in the essential profession of childcare. 1. Portable Benefits Pilot Project for Childcare Workers: In order to increase talent within and stabilize the childcare industry as a whole, the city will pioneer a pilot project to subsidize the cost of workers’ benefits and enable employees to retain those benefits across providers. These benefits will include health insurance and retirement programs. Under this pilot project, employees will also be eligible for profit-sharing. 2. Unionization of the Childcare Workforce: Washington is a proud union-supporting state. By ensuring that the childcare workforce can also take part in unionization and collective bargaining, we can make sure that this essential workforce secures their rights, fair pay, and equitable employment practices. 3. Ensuring Childcare Workers Can Live in the Communities They Serve: Through ST3 for Housing, we’ll build the tens of thousands of affordable housing units we need to solve our affordability crisis. That will allow the talented professionals who devote themselves to a career caring for our children to live in the communities their service supports. #FreshStart on Climate Action Plan Seattle Needs a #FreshStart on Climate The climate crisis is no longer something we have the luxury of trying to avoid in the future; it is already upon us. Wildfire smoke chokes our skies and our lungs, torrential rains in the winter flood our homes, and the pollution from dirty energy production ravages the health of people of all ages in our frontline communities. We can address and prevent an immense amount of tragedy, and every day presents a new chance to make progress in this fight. We can build a more just, equitable, and sustainable city where we all prosper from the investments needed to decarbonize our economy and avert the worst of this crisis. But with Seattle’s emissions currently rising, the last ten years of city leadership on this issue represent a real failure that we cannot afford to repeat any longer. Our leaders have received no shortage of credible warnings about these consequences from scientists, community activists, and policy experts. It’s time for a #FreshStart on Climate and a renewed sense of urgency to enact transformative policies and build the critical infrastructure equal to the scale of the crisis we face. The stakes could not be higher, but we know what it takes to reduce climate emissions: thriving, walkable neighborhoods centered around transit, investments in vulnerable communities who have borne the brunt of the health and economic impacts of a changing climate, clean zero-emission buildings, and a decarbonized energy sector. As mayor, I’ll provide the leadership necessary to get Seattle back on track to meet our climate goals and put in place policies to reach zero net emissions by 2030. But I will not be able to solve this problem single-handedly – just as this policy agenda was developed in collaboration with community activists and civic leaders, we will need the entire city of Seattle to come together in a shared commitment to decarbonizing our economy. It is my commitment to work collaboratively with the diversity of communities across the city, Tribes, large and small businesses, unions, financial institutions, academia, philanthropies, the nonprofit sector, and regional, state and federal partners to implement this plan. Our history in this city shows that with a sense of common purpose we can successfully tackle our biggest obstacles. The policy agenda outlined below is ambitious, but it is more than simple aspiration — it represents a commitment to enact comprehensive solutions that will actually solve the problems we face. I believe we can accomplish this agenda, because I’ve spent my entire career working on enormous challenges. As Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition, as a state legislator and at Civic Ventures I’ve fought successfully to get in place billions in public investments that will truly allow us to reduce climate emissions – transit, walking, biking and trip reduction, housing around transit, and habitat preservation. Let’s dedicate ourselves to meeting our climate goals so that our kids will grow up and live in a world with a climate that still works – where food production is still reliable, weather patterns are reasonably predictable, and major sea level rise is held at bay. We can do this, but more importantly we must do this. Continued failure is simply no longer an option. Sections of Jessyn’s #FreshStart on Climate Action Plan: #FreshStart on Gun Violence Prevention A Seattle Without Gun Violence is Possible 2020 was the worst year for gun violence in decades. Nearly 20,000 people lost their lives and another nearly 40,000 were injured because of guns. In between headlines of devastating mass shootings, our communities have been gripped by a surge in domestic violence, suicide, and street shootings. Gun violence is a pandemic that has been ravaging our city long before COVID–19, and like many crises it has only been made worse by the economic collapse, social isolation, and instability of the last year. When we say, gun violence is a public health crisis, it is more than just a slogan. It means that we must bring the same relentless focus on data, public education, and execution that it takes to overcome any other pandemic. Just like with COVID–19, there are tools and strategies that must be expanded for all of us to do our part to reduce gun violence. Ultimately, no matter who you are or where you live– you deserve to feel safe. No one should live in fear that at any moment a person with a gun might shoot you. In Seattle, we have witnessed weekly and sometimes daily shootings: at our malls like the recent Southcenter shooting, in our own homes in the case of a 16 year old killed in Rainier Beach last week, or on our streets two weeks ago in the Central District on 23rd and Jackson. As Mayor, I would commit to a serious and comprehensive vision for zero shootings in our community. This goal is achievable because we know that gun violence IS preventable. We know what works, we just need the conviction to do it. There is incredible work happening right now in our city to prevent gun violence. Whether it is the gains we’ve made in implementing Extreme Risk Protection Orders, the efforts of the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit to get guns off our streets, or the work of innovative violence prevention organizations like Community Passageways, there is cause for hope and renewed commitment to end gun violence. However, the urgency of this crisis requires a #FreshStart on Gun Violence Prevention. We know that our efforts have not yet been enough to eradicate this epidemic. To finally end gun violence, we must build the social, cultural, and economic supports that create healthy and thriving communities for everyone in our city while tearing down systems of oppression, white supremacy, and hate. If we invest in helping communities thrive, treat gun violence as a public health crisis, and bring a renewed and relentless focus on removing dangerous access to firearms– we can and will live in a city with zero shootings. Sections of Jessyn’s #FreshStart on Gun Violence Prevention Plan: Gun Violence is a Public Health Crisis Safe Schools and Safe Communities Making Sure Everyone in Seattle Has a Safe Place to Call Home Like you, I am frustrated by our city’s lack of progress on ending homelessness. Current and past city leaders have simply failed to address this humanitarian crisis, find supportive housing for those in need, and keep our streets and parks available for all to use. It’s time to finally deliver the help people experiencing homelessness need so they can get housing, access to services, and end the cycle of homelessness. Period. No more excuses or passing the buck. My plan is simple: housing, services, caseworkers, and taxpayer accountability. As Mayor, I commit to: Secure and Build More Short- and Long-Term Housing We’ve known for the duration of this crisis that solving homelessness in Seattle at its core will require getting services to people currently experiencing homelessness while investing in stable, long-term housing options. However, we do not currently have the housing stock to accommodate the population of people experiencing homelessness, which has only grown during the pandemic. In collaboration with the Regional Homelessness Authority, my administration will explore every available solution to secure reliable housing for people experiencing homelessness as quickly as possible, including acquiring properties like hotels to speed up our efforts to get every person a safe place to call home.
Better Services: Healthcare, Drug Treatment, and Sanitation We will provide critical healthcare, drug treatment, and sanitation for people experiencing homelessness by deploying caseworkers and medical professionals across the city.
Bringing Housing, Caseworkers, and Services to People Living in Parks and on Sidewalks Parks and sidewalks where people of all ages and abilities can recreate are integral to a thriving Seattle – and they are not safe places for people to sleep. That’s why I will commit to bringing housing, services, and caseworkers to people living in specific parks and streets – so that you know whether your city government is effectively deploying taxpayer resources to address this humanitarian crisis. Year One locations include: Jefferson Park, Lake City Park, Occidental Square, Haller Lake, Ballard Commons, North Aurora, and any Seattle Public Schools property with unsheltered people. Regional, State, and Federal Coordination The City cannot address this alone, and that’s why I will also work with the Regional Homelessness Authority, King County government, the state legislature, the Governor, and our Congressional delegation to assist in funding this critical effort. Study after study has told us that truly ending this humanitarian crisis will take up to a billion dollars of additional public investment each year for the next ten years. Seattle needs a mayor who can deliver results on that scale, and I’m the only candidate in the race with a proven track record of actually securing billions of dollars for investments in our region. Making Seattle Safer by Transforming Public Safety My north star is that no one in our community should feel unsafe going about their daily lives, and I believe our strategies and budgets must reflect our values. Our system of public safety is broken because our leaders have failed us. In response to last summer’s protests, they teetered incompetently between two extreme options: allowing unacceptable escalation of police violence, and abandoning a police station and the people it served. We have allowed Black and brown residents to disproportionately bear the brunt of policing and police violence. We ask armed officers to respond to mental health crises and traffic stops. We suffer a financial and moral loss by taking the high-cost, unjust approach of criminalizing addiction rather than the lower-cost, values-aligned approach of investing in treatment. We have watched gun violence grow. Everyone in Seattle deserves to feel safe. To ensure this ideal becomes Seattleites’ lived experience, we must build a public safety budget grounded in what research shows keeps people safe. We know that true public safety means more than just a traditional policing response. We can achieve safe, thriving communities by making strategic investments to address the root causes of the issues that spread fear, anger, and hopelessness in our city. We need to reimagine how we police communities and how we invest in community resources that will have the largest impact on public safety in our neighborhoods. We need to develop both short-term and long-term strategies and set clear, achievable goals to measure the return on our investments. As mayor, these are the beliefs I’ll stand for.
While overhauling our system of public safety will require substantial investments of both time and resources to scale up alternatives to traditional policing, City Hall can take immediate action on several issues to make a real difference in people’s lives. In the first year of my administration, here are my priorities: 1. Safe and Effective Crisis Response: As we saw in Charleena Lyles’ case, getting someone the support they need the first time they call for help is absolutely critical. Charleena called for emergency assistance 17 times before SPD officers killed her when responding to a reported burglary at her home, demonstrating just how broken our current crisis response system is. We must reallocate responsibilities for responding to people in crisis away from armed police officers and expand our investments in alternatives like Seattle Fire’s Health One program to get trained health care professionals to people in crisis across the entire city. We also must invest in training programs so that our first responders are equipped to provide the appropriate support to people in need. Finally, we must scale up investments in social services so that caseworkers with the appropriate expertise can work with individuals both during and after the immediate crisis is resolved to address the underlying cause of the emergency.
3. Detective Work Around Property Crime: Property crime happens in hot spots, and SPD should be focusing its efforts on interrupting that cycle. But too often these types of criminal activity are not addressed with urgency, due to lack of resources and lack of personnel available. Without addressing these hotspots of crime, we let the cycle continue and often escalate further. As Mayor, I will prioritize funding programs that investigate these kinds of crimes before they escalate to more major criminal acts. 4. Modernizing Seattle’s Criminal Code: The easiest and fastest way to reduce opportunities for violent interactions with law enforcement is to stop treating minor offenses as crimes that require enforcement by an armed police officer. In my administration, SPD will no longer be responsible for enforcing laws where we have clear evidence that the department’s enforcement has been discriminatory against people of color and that pose little to no risk to our city’s public safety. Jaywalking and failure to follow bike helmet requirements should not be considered criminal offenses. I’ll also shift the focus of SPD’s drug law enforcement to prioritize individuals and organizations distributing and selling illicit substances. For people struggling with substance abuse, we will decriminalize simple possession and follow a caseworker model to get people the medical treatment they need instead of ensnaring them in the criminal legal system. 5. Rebuilding Community Trust Through Transparency and Accountability: We will never be able to heal as a city and build trust in our civic institutions if there isn’t full transparency and accountability for those in the current administration who participated in the wanton violation of people’s civil rights during the protests following George Floyd’s murder. If the King County Prosecuting Attorney or the Attorney General have not investigated the failure of Mayor Durkan’s administration to produce records demonstrating who was responsible for authorizing the use of tear gas in Capitol Hill last summer, I will. That means turning over any and all records or correspondence from that period available to my administration, and working with an independent investigation to recover any records the current administration has failed to produce on this issue. 6. Refusing to Negotiate Away Accountability: We must take accountability off the negotiation table. We simply cannot compromise on the demand that SPD be held responsible for ensuring its officers do their jobs while respecting the humanity and constitutional rights of everyone in our city. Mayor Durkan and the City Council approved a SPOG contract in 2018 that unacceptably undermined the mechanisms for officer accountability that community advocates fought to pass in I-940 and have codified in city law. I will not accept a contract that attempts to bargain away accountability, period. Specifically, we must return to the preponderance of evidence standard for evaluating officer misconduct that was undermined in the last contract, negotiate reasonable constraints to officer overtime hours, and prevent officers from avoiding discipline and decertification through early retirement. Furthermore, we must ensure that the new SPOG contract no longer hamstrings the Office of Police Accountability by unacceptably limiting staffing levels for investigators, improperly preventing community stakeholders from collecting or providing evidence during investigations, removing transparency for families, the public or tribal representatives, and imposing unreasonable time limits on investigations. SPD’s response to the protest movement last summer was wholly unacceptable, and the inability of OPA to adequately investigate and hold officers accountable is a direct result of city leadership ceding ground on accountability during the last SPOG contract negotiation. 7. Community-based Programs: Violence prevention organizations like Community Passageways are working every day to heal the wounds created by centuries of systemic oppression. Communities on the front lines have simultaneously borne the brunt of the gun violence epidemic and been left on their own to solve it. Whether through youth diversion, re-entry assistance, or other interventions to prevent violence, these organizations have been working for decades to keep our community safe. Our city must recognize them as some of the most effective tools to interrupt cycles of violence and fund them accordingly. These groups need the resources necessary to meet the scale of the demand for their services, and as Mayor I’ll make sure they get the support they need. Our leaders must listen, and engage deeply in participatory budgeting to divert funds from traditional public safety systems that are not working to keep us safe, and invest in the diverse network of alternatives that will create true safety in our community. 8. Gun Violence Prevention: Eliminating gun violence requires investments in healthcare, education, economic justice and trauma-informed intervention. It requires prioritizing policing resources for programs like the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement unit and extreme risk protection order implementation that have measurable impacts on reducing and preventing violence in our communities. We’ve already seen City Hall’s promise to allocate $30 million through participatory budgeting get bogged down by infighting between the Mayor’s Office and City Council, sowing distrust in the city’s ability to deliver on its promises. I’ll cut through the existing Seattle Process by establishing a city-wide Office of Violence Prevention whose goal is to reduce gun violence in Seattle, be accountable to the community, and operate with full transparency. This new city office would invest in year-round public education, act as a grant-making authority to effective community violence prevention programs, and oversee implementation of gun safety initiatives across city, state, and regional boundaries. I’ll prioritize staffing this new office with community leaders who have spent years working on these issues, and work with trusted community-based organizations to set measurable, achievable goals to hold my administration accountable for making progress. All of these policy measures would help our city save lives and reduce gun violence. For more detail on how we can achieve a Seattle without gun violence, read our full plan here. 9. Treating Addiction: To start, we need to partner with the State’s Department of Health to scale up treatment solutions called for in DOH’s Opioid Response Plan. We must rapidly scale up low-barrier mechanisms for delivery of medications for opioid use disorder and work with experts to develop solutions that will prevent the use of opioids in our communities, neighborhoods, alleys, yards, and parks. This includes “upstream” approaches like working with the medical community and state partners to promote alternate pain management strategies, prescription monitoring programs, safe storage and disposal of prescriptions, and training for medical professionals to identify misuse early in a patient’s course of treatment. These efforts must be designed to scale to all forms of chemical dependency. Safe and Sustainable Transportation for All For far too long, Seattle has played catch-up on transportation instead of leading the way. We need a transportation system that provides people with equitable, safe, reliable, affordable and climate-friendly travel choices. Whether it be by foot, transit, bike, or car, we should spend less time traveling and more time where we want to be. While in recent years Seattle has successfully reduced single-occupancy vehicle travel, we can do better. We will connect communities to each other and to more educational and employment opportunities with clean, reliable and convenient buses and trains, and safe walking, biking, and rolling options. This starts with integrating transportation and land-use, recognizing the best and most sustainable transportation system is one where you live close to where you need to go. A world class city with a high quality of life requires a safe and equitable transportation system. A robust array of sustainable choices is a hallmark of such a system. As mayor, I intend for Seattle to be that world class city—that is world class no matter your age, ability, or mobility needs. Putting Safety First I believe every transportation death is a preventable death. In 2019, Oslo and Helsinki became the first major cities to demonstrate that all traffic deaths can be prevented, and also showed how their efforts led to improved sustainability and quality of life as well. In Seattle, we have experienced 15-25 tragic deaths on our roads per year over the past decade. For pedestrians, it has gotten much less safe. We only had two pedestrian deaths on our roadways in 2011, but by 2019, that had increased 650 percent to 15 deaths. We know the solutions to prevent this; Oslo and Helsinki point the way. We need leadership with the will to take the steps necessary to achieve success for a safer city. Unsafe streets put our most vulnerable at risk, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities, and have a disproportionate impact on BIPOC communities. We are blessed to be situated in a beautiful environment. A city that is safe and enjoyable for people to experience outside, without their cars, will be a healthier and more sustainable city with a higher quality of life for all Seattleites. Twenty deaths per year and 150 serious injuries on Seattle streets are unacceptable, preventable tragedies. We have the solution; now we must act. What we will do:
Investing in an Equitable Transit System In the history of our cities, including Seattle, transportation equity and racial equity are inextricably tied. Transportation has been used as a tool to both create and support inequality. The Federal and local government build highways by destroying Black neighborhoods. Highways were also used as a way to segregate Black Americans from white Americans. Buses themselves were sites of segregation. Rosa Parks’ famous refusal to accept that injustice served as a pivotal moment for the Civil Rights movement, demonstrating that public transportation also presents us with opportunities to address past wrongs and achieve a more equitable future. We have yet to fully seize this opportunity. Our current commuter-centric transit network is not designed to serve the needs of the majority of low-wage workers, BIPOC communities, and people with disabilities. Transit is not affordable for many people in these communities, and even when people in these communities live near transit, they do not feel that it consistently got them to where they needed to be on time. I will ensure that everybody benefits from transit investments, in particular people from marginalized communities. Research also shows a disproportionate amount of transportation investments have been made in white neighborhoods, leaving communities of color with broken sidewalks, broken sidewalk lamps, arterials that are deadly to cross, and few options for biking and walking. What we will do:
Ensuring People Can Easily Access Everything Needed for a Healthy Life Living in a city is about having access to all the amenities we need, including housing, medical care, and fresh food. A great city ensures everyone can access those needs no matter their mode preference or mobility needs. We will bring amenities closer to housing, bring new housing closer to transit, and ensure we have an array of safe and usable transportation choices for all community members. Trips that are easy for an able-bodied person can be filled with impediments for people with disabilities. This creates huge barriers to access schools, medical care, groceries, work, and fully participating in the community. We will make our city more accessible so everyone can safely and conveniently reach their destination with dignity. What we will do:
Expanding Transit to Support an Equitable Economy Transit is the backbone of any great city. As Seattle continues to grow, we need to make sure the infrastructure is in place for the city to continue to thrive in an equitable and sustainable way. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone’s lives but it has disproportionately impacted people of color and low-income communities. Transit is a lifeline in those communities for access to work, school, family, and essential services. During the pandemic, our public transit system transported essential workers who keep our city functioning. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a fresh start on transit expansion by focusing on those that need it most to provide a safe, equitable and efficient transportation system in Seattle. To support the equitable development of communities neglected by public investments from City Hall for decades, our transit system must efficiently serve needs beyond downtown-centric trips. What we will do:
Getting Back to Basics: Bridges and Infrastructure In the past few years, the Mayor and City Council have not prioritized identifying long-term, reliable and equitable solutions to maintaining our streets, bridges and sidewalks. We are losing ground on basic safety and maintenance work, and now face a backlog totaling nearly $2 billion. We must reaffirm our commitment to maintaining and improving our existing transportation system, while continuing to create a system that gives people safe and reliable choices to get where they need to go. Seattle continues to fall behind on maintaining our core system and we’re lagging behind other major cities in making our transportation system safer for all users. I will be a Mayor who isn’t afraid of making tough decisions. It is unacceptable that more than a year has passed since the West Seattle Bridge unexpectedly closed, cutting off reliable access to 20 percent of the households in our city. The communities in West Seattle have struggled with longer travel times, challenges getting to necessary medical appointments, and more difficult commutes. Surrounding communities, including South Park are bearing the brunt of the diverted traffic congestion funneled through their neighborhood. With quicker decision-making the bridge could have re-opened by now. What we will do:
Building a City of Mobility Innovation Seattle, a hub for so much of the world’s innovation, should be the center for “innovation done right.” We need innovation that promotes the values of our city and its communities and doesn’t distract us from our laser focus on the nuts and bolts which are critical to making our city vibrant, livable, and well-functioning. We can spend our time setting “targets” or we can get real about implementing policy. Seattle should know how much of a carbon reduction we would get from red-bus-only lanes on major arterials, and how much carbon reduction would come from a fully built out bicycle network, and what benefit we would see from densifying near transit. Understanding the baseline, we should implement the policies, knowing that there is not one silver-bullet to reducing greenhouse gases in transportation. After the policies are implemented, we should continue measuring the results and seek new innovations until the standing targets are met. What we will do:
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| —Jessyn Farrell’s campaign website (2021)[12] | ||
Lorena González
González's campaign website stated the following themes.
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Solving Homelessness Taking Action to Solve Homelessness After years of learning and understanding the complexities of homelessness, I know that it will take an all-hands-on deck approach that leaves no solution on the table. Unhoused people deserve a Mayor who will work tirelessly on immediate solutions to rapidly provide safe and appropriate housing and services to each of the approximately 8,000 people sleeping outside or in shelters on any given night in Seattle. That is why as Mayor I will: ● improve our emergency crisis response system, Additionally, the workers who deliver these services, many of whom also experience housing instability, deserve fair wages for the difficult work we ask them to do every day. The reason these solutions are not currently being implemented effectively is because we do not have a Mayor who is willing to stand up to the wealthy and big corporations and say that it’s time for them to pay their fair share to adequately fund the services and housing that people experiencing poverty desperately need. As just one example, in our own backyard, Amazon’s profits soared 220% during the public health pandemic while the average Seattle resident has accumulated 14 months of overdue rent. As a co-sponsor of the JumpStart Seattle payroll tax, I know that, if elected Mayor, I must work with the City Council and community members to make big corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share to end homelessness in our beautiful and prosperous city. We can raise millions of dollars through a wealth tax at the city level, and I will work with our delegation in the state legislature to challenge and correct our upside-down tax laws. We will continue to have a homelessness crisis in Seattle until we infuse the city with more affordable housing that makes the city livable for everyone, not just the wealthy. That’s why I will work to tackle the rising cost of living, including housing and rent costs in Seattle by: ● limiting rent hikes in unsafe, unhealthy and unlivable housing, As Mayor, I will work with local, regional, state and federal partners to put the region on a path to create the estimated 16,000 additional affordable units and the additional 37,000 new affordable-housing units that would be needed to ensure thousands of extremely low-income people not lose their housing, according to the updated McKinsey report estimates. This is what is needed to house everyone who is homeless in the Seattle-King County region. Economic Recovery Progress for All Creating a Seattle Economy Where Everyone Thrives Our city can be a place where every community has economic security and everyone thrives, together. With effective, progressive leadership in the Mayor’s office, Seattle can do better. We will work to ensure our communities have the resources they need and that we have excellent infrastructure for our small businesses and working people to thrive. By centering the wellbeing of families, communities, and small businesses, and not the demands of the corporate elite, we can build a more just and democratic economy where everyone prospers. 1. A Bold Vision for Just Transition: Solving the climate crisis demands– and creates an opportunity for – Seattle to lead the transition to a green economy based in local ownership, good jobs, and environmental justice. As the federal government deploys grants for infrastructure, recovery, and a Green New Deal, Seattle will be ready with capacity in community-based organizations, locally owned businesses, and a skilled workforce. ● With our industrial lands, innovative culture, and manufacturing prowess, Seattle
is poised to invent the clean manufacturing future. We must modernize our
industrial infrastructure and prepare to build the technology for the green
economy. 2. Thriving future for vibrant neighborhood commercial and cultural districts Seattle's magic lies in our vital neighborhoods and commercial districts where people of all ages, abilities, income levels, races, and cultural backgrounds can thrive together. ● Ensure land use, transit, and commercial policies support complete
neighborhoods with arts, restaurants, entertainment, healthy food, pharmacies,
affordable childcare, parks, and community spaces. 3. Confront racialized wealth inequality and restore community wealth and health Whether we’re Black, white or brown, we want our families to be whole and our communities to be vibrant. Politicians who blame those who struggle to pay rent, or demean those who fight for justice, fortifying a divide between haves and have-nots. Let’s stop over-policing poor, immigrant, Black, and Native neighbors and instead invest in resilience and economic security. ● Work with community-led efforts to shift funding from SPD to investments that
will heal communities, from local safety to food security to culturally responsive
mental health. 4. Empower workers and create good jobs Good jobs in well-run businesses sustain healthy families and strong communities. When employers don’t pay living wages or take advantage of their workers, the public sector is called on to pick up the pieces. We all benefit from good union jobs, workers getting a fair return for their work, and holding the private sector to a high standard. Let’s put our progressive values into action by building a culture of sharing wealth and power via innovative ownership models - so everyone benefits from success, no matter the size of their job. ● Establish incentives and provide technical assistance for worker co-ops, workerowned collectives, profit sharing, and employee ownership. 5. Reinvigorate Office of Economic Development to serve as an energetic community partner. We will create a blueprint for a robust small business economy based in local ownership and reinvent and empower OED as a center for resources, tools and technical assistance. ● Create a clear action agenda for local ownership of small businesses, community
ownership of assets, and targeted solutions for neighborhood economic
resilience. 6. An equitable tax system to provide resources to fund the infrastructure we need Today, we know that wealthy individuals and massive corporations like Amazon take in record profits while not contributing fairly to the schools, infrastructure, and services we all use. Our state tax code has been the most upside-down in the nation, taxing poor and middle-class households at much higher rates than the wealthiest As Mayor, I will: ● Work with the State toward a balanced tax code, where corporations and the
wealthy pay their fair share through a wealth tax, estate taxes, and a progressive
income tax. 7. Create affordable and accessible childcare Childcare costs place a major strain on the budgets of working families. They have also made it hard for people, especially women, to re-enter the workforce. According to the National Women’s Law Center, women’s participation in the workforce has dropped to its lowest level since 1988 due to the pandemic. Childcare in our city needs to be affordable and accessible for all. ● Treat childcare as essential infrastructure, not a commodity to be bought and
sold. This means looking at every source of funding: city, regional, state, and
federal. We finally have a President that understands the importance of these
critical investments, and we need to seize this moment. We knew we had steep challenges in our city already, and the pandemic and 2020 racial uprising refocused our energy: we are no longer waiting for hoarded wealth to trickle down, we won’t let corporate lobbyists block what we know is right, we won’t turn our backs on neighbors in harm’s way. When we go all in for all of us, we can make Seattle a place we’re proud to call home with the world-class public schools, affordable housing, abundant good jobs, healthy local businesses, and community services our families need. As Dr. King made clear 58 years ago, racial justice and economic justice are inseparable. Strong communities and determined public leadership are the key to remake our local economy into a dynamic force for equity, where we all thrive together. Police Accountability & Public Safety Transforming Seattle’s Public Safety & Police Accountability Creating Equitable Community Safety As a civil rights lawyer for more than a decade, I worked tirelessly to get justice for victims of police violence and racially biased policing across Washington and Seattle. In one of my most high-profile cases, Monetti v Seattle, I sued the Seattle Police Department on behalf of a young Latino man after a detective threatened to “beat the Mexican piss” out of him, while other officers stood around observing and failing to intervene. My work on this and other civil rights cases is what fuels my vision and commitment to transform Seattle’s approach to public safety and accountability. We need real police accountability that meets this civil rights moment, and we need leaders with a track record to implement it. In 2017, I worked with the community to champion the passage of landmark legislation to expand civilian oversight of the police department, establish the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety, and make the Community Police Commission permanent. I also worked to end the SPD’s acquisition of military surplus equipment. I worked to pass the first reduction of the SPD’s budget in Seattle’s history to reallocate resources to community-based, safety programs and participatory budgeting. While I am proud of the work we have done together to advance true police reform, accountability and community-based investments in alternatives to law enforcement, there is much more we must and can do together. Seattle’s next Mayor will be responsible for building on the progress that we have made. Armed law enforcement should not be responding to a mental health crisis or a non-violent situation. This is not only an unnecessary use of resources but too often results in needless death and trauma in our Black, brown, and indigenous communities. My administration will work to shift funds away from SPD toward programs like the Health One Mobile units, the Crisis Response Team, alternative community safety programs like Community Service Officers, and other public-health models that rapidly address the health and crisis needs of those experiencing homelessness. As the next Mayor, I will bring together community, council and labor to ensure that the next contract with the police officer’s guild includes critical components of the 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance, which I worked to pass, that have been left on the table by past mayors. Our next Mayor also must take a hands-on approach to crisis management and exercise their legal authority over the Seattle Police Department. Recent reporting revealed that the order to abandon the East Precinct last summer was given while the Mayor was apparently absent from the discussion. Civilian control of the police is critical to a functioning democracy, and the Mayor cannot abdicate her responsibility to exercise control over the Seattle Police Department. It is unacceptable to have un-elected officials making these crucial life and death decisions, and it will not happen under my administration. We also need to work to reduce gun violence that disproportionately impacts our Black, brown, and indigenous communities. As a Mexican-American growing up in the Lower Yakima Valley, I lost friends to gun violence and have also survived, without injury, drive-by shootings. That is why as a councilmember I have prioritized working with gun safety advocates to pass three major gun violence prevention laws during my tenure. The first requires safe storage of firearms, reducing the theft of firearms, suicides, and accidental deaths. The second was increasing penalties for individuals who failed to report a lost or stolen firearm. The third expanded the regional domestic violence firearms enforcement unit to get guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. Lastly, I also supported the appropriation of revenue from the ammunition tax to fund public health research at Harborview to continue supporting data-driven research to prevent gun violence. In 2021, I also voted in support of allocating $10.4 million toward community safety programs to address the epidemic of gun violence harming our communities. I will work with urgency to immediately implement gun-violence prevention programs. Additionally, we have to work with our federal and state partners to allow Seattle to build on the gun safety laws we have already passed. Currently we are preempted by federal and state laws from passing true and meaningful gun safety legislation, such as a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Seattle’s mayor plays a critical role in setting the narrative and sending a clear message to the NRA and their political allies that their policies are wrong for the people of our city. Much of the gun violence inside major cities comes from guns that are legally purchased in other jurisdictions with looser laws. We need stronger state and federal gun violence prevention laws to keep guns out of our city, and we need to work with our state and federal partners to prevent illegal guns from coming into Seattle. That’s why I’m so honored to have the endorsement of federal and state leaders like Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña. These relationships will be critical to supporting their advocacy and making sure they have local support to champion reform and accountability in Olympia and DC. Climate, Transit, and Housing The simple truth is that ending our reliance on fossil fuels will improve life for everyone. Transitioning to a 100% clean future will cut pollution that contributes to asthma and lung disease—whether it’s from gasoline and diesel on our highways or dangerous natural gas emissions from our boilers and furnaces—and it will help stop the ever-worsening march of climate change. As Seattle faces record heat waves, as families hide indoors from fast approaching smoke and constructions and other outdoor workers are exposed to it, it’s becoming clearer than ever: Seattle must act, and fast. I have a strong record on climate change, and I’m committed to making sure that as mayor, we turn Seattle into the nation’s greenest city. I was proud to support the Seattle Green New Deal, and the JumpStart Seattle tax to fund it, and I was proud to support updates to the commercial energy code that will help make our largest buildings fossil-free and more efficient. As mayor, Seattle will go even further. Transit & Housing The largest source of carbon pollution in Seattle is transportation. A transition to a climate stable future will require planning a city that is car-optional, and ensure that all remaining cars, trucks and buses on the road are clean, zero-emission, electric vehicles. Making it safe to walk and bike and increasing the reliability and usability of transit helps everyone—it cuts congestion, it improves air quality and cuts climate pollution. We will: ● Recommit to transit in Seattle, expanding transit service hours and frequency. Transit
should serve all Seattleites. That means those that work 9-5, but also crucially people
that work other shifts, that don’t commute to downtown, and more. Car ownership
costs the average household $9000/year, so expanding access to transit and helping
more households opt out of car trips will save money and cut pollution. Buildings Climate pollution from natural gas use is growing at a faster rate than any sector of emissions in Washington—faster even than transportation emissions. Methane gas use indoors is also dangerous to our health, especially for apartment dwellers who often have less ventilation and safety measures. A recent UCLA study found that after just one hour of cooking with gas, 90% of homes have indoor air quality that violates federal ambient air quality standards—it would be illegal outside. And a Harvard study found that in 2017, more Washingtonians died from building pollution, including methane gas, than from all vehicle collisions in the state. ● We must ensure that new buildings in Seattle are 100% clean on day one. Seattle City
Light is among the cleanest utilities in the nation and world, and the City should
maximize this valuable asset in the fight for public health and against climate change.
We just shouldn’t allow new buildings that depend on fossil fuels anymore. Arts & Culture Seattle’s public spaces and cultural spaces define who feels welcome, who belongs, whose stories are worth listening to. In our cultural life, we need artists from all backgrounds sharing their stories and world with us. If we want to be a multicultural city that celebrates Black and Indigenous histories and cultures, and the stories and contributions of all the uniquely diverse immigrant communities, we need artists making art. We need public spaces that tell our different experiences of shared history and stories from communities. I’m proud to have supported $3 million in funding in assistance for arts organizations as part of the Seattle Rescue Plan. Arts and culture are essential infrastructure, and we need to invest in ensuring artists can stay in our communities and continue to create cultural spaces and art. As Congress considers an infrastructure package, I will be working with our federal partners, like Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, to identify new opportunities to secure additional funding for arts and culture in our city. We also need to recognize that we cannot have a thriving arts sector without tackling income inequality in our city, which impacts workers in the arts sector. We need to invest in affordable housing, affordable transit, and affordable childcare to ensure these workers can continue to call Seattle home. I have proposed a comprehensive plan for economic recovery that is focused on helping workers and small businesses throughout all of our city’s neighborhoods. My plan also proposes reinvigorating the Office of Economic Development so that it serves local businesses with tools they need to find capital and technical assistance, with attention to removing barriers for new entrepreneurs from low-income communities, BIPOC communities and the LGBTQ+ community. Artists are often small business-owners themselves who need to keep their books, pay their employees, and file their taxes. Providing technical and small business assistance for artists and culture workers is one way to ensure they are part of shared prosperity possible in Seattle. Artists also need spaces to call home where they can create, collaborate, and plan. Art spaces have been some of the first casualties of our affordability challenges and we have lost too many. We need to preserve our existing spaces and identify currently underutilized spaces that could be used for our arts community. Theater Off Jackson is an example of a space that needs to be preserved; it's in a historic neighborhood for people of color and currently serves as a space where BIPOC theater, queer theater, body positive theater, and burlesque can run. Recognizing the rich contributions that arts and culture makes to our community should also be recognized by designating neighborhoods that are arts and culture hubs as arts districts, which will help with placemaking and economic revitalization. As we continue to build affordable housing, we can, and should, incentivize development of co-located housing and arts and culture spaces for permanent places where ideas and art can grow, incubate, and flourish.[10] |
” |
| —Lorena González’s campaign website (2021)[13] | ||
Bruce Harrell
Harrell's campaign website stated the following themes.
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We Can Rebuild Our Economy Consistent With Our Progressive Values Now is the time for big thinking and creative genius to put our city back on track and help reach our collective potential. I will bring together unions, business and civic leaders, community voices and advocates, environmental and health experts, leaders in the arts, education, and philanthropy, to create the Seattle we can all be proud of. Seattle has always been an example for the nation – a progressive city where higher wages fueled greater equity and opportunity, where entrepreneurs were welcomed and nurtured, where investments in our parks, libraries, transit and affordable housing showed what a city can do when focused on a bright, inclusive future. The pandemic disruption has turned back the clock for too many – widening inequalities in wealth, pushing vulnerable people out of housing and depriving access to needed support. These devastations have impacted a generation of students, young workers, and families struggling to make ends meet. Here are some bold ideas for recovery and equitable growth that harnesses the best of Seattle:
As your Mayor I’ll be a strong – and consistent – voice for small businesses and working people, protecting and improving equity, wages, and work standards and building upon my 30-year career helping diversify businesses opportunities in our city. We Will Plan – and Act – To End Homelessness The homelessness crisis devastates not only the lives of those suffering on our streets and in our parks, but it affects the safety and peace of mind for too many Seattle families. It is a crisis that has divided our city and shaken our confidence as a compassionate, can-do city. We need a Mayor who will take immediate and decisive action, a relentless leader who will take ownership of the problem. I will own it. My plan is to bring a new approach – one that will combine local and federal resources and work to coordinate with regional partners to ensure an ambitious plan – urgently getting people out of parks and streets and into stable housing with the on-site services they need. I’ve called for the City to use a majority of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to immediately expand support services, while drawing on existing local dollars to fund the purchase, construction, and transition of hundreds of units of permanent housing through hotels, tiny homes, and other long-term, stable supportive housing options. In 2022, we can go even further, combining scheduled American Rescue Plan Act funding, local and state resources, and philanthropic support. From my first year in office, we will treat the homelessness crisis appropriately as the greatest challenge facing our city. By uniting together on this shared mission, rather than pointing fingers, we will help restore lives, revitalize shared spaces and parks, and strengthen our communities and city. My wife, a former United Way of King County CEO, and I have experience in raising significant, dedicated funding for health and human services. So many neighbors want to help solve the homelessness crisis, but don’t know what to do. What is their entry point? We are a compassionate city and people are tired of seeing stalled progress and continued in-fighting. Seattle will be nationally known for our collective effort and my job as Mayor will be to create and lead this effort. With your vote, I will:
Our actions will be driven by our compassion as a city – not our anger and frustration at the problem. We will demand that every person be treated with dignity. There are no quick fixes to this crisis, but we know strategies that provide immediate shelter, personalized case management, and long-term care and treatment work. Let’s do this, together. We Can – and Must – Address Structural Racism and Police Bias, Ensuring Public Safety Black Lives Matter is the most impactful civil rights movement in my adult life, and I stand in unity with those seeking justice and reform – as I have throughout my career in law and public service. This commitment is reinforced by my own experience growing up, and later raising two young Black men in our city and society. As an attorney, I would commonly ask potential jurors to recount their lived experiences when being interrogated by police officers, and I have seen tears in the eyes of many African Americans when reliving their trauma. That is exactly why I was the sole drafter of Seattle’s unprecedented “Bias Free” policing law which requires our City to daylight the information as to who is stopped by law enforcement, and why. With your support, we will start 2022 with a baseline that Seattle must be different than what has occurred and continues to occur to countless African Americans at the hands of police officers. Our own officers will work with community leaders to change OUR narrative.
The “us” vs “them” conversation is not working. We must start from the common baseline that every human being deserves respect and dignity. We all deserve safe streets and communities. We know the difference between peaceful protest and criminal destruction of property. We need real talk. We need leadership. As Mayor, I’ll never lose sight of the goal: a Seattle police department that is responsive to community needs, that protects all people and neighborhoods without bias. Health Care for All Seattle Residents No one in our city should live without access to health care. Cities like San Francisco have developed basic coverage models that provide access to those at risk of falling through the cracks of a costly, cumbersome, and racially inequitable system. Employees of small businesses, gig economy workers, young people, and anyone experiencing homelessness or economic disruption all deserve quality care. Let’s come together and build a system that shows our commitment to a healthy community.
Launching this type of program will require trust and collaboration, bringing all parties to the table with a common goal of providing coverage and support to all in our city. I’m excited to take on this important and overdue challenge. Taking on the Climate Crisis – and Securing an Emerald City for Generations to Come With temperatures rising year over year and less than a decade left to prevent the worst effects of climate change, Seattle must set the example as America’s leading climate-forward city – and we cannot leave anyone behind. I will define a bold climate agenda guided by science that sets ambitious and necessary goals, so we can do our part. Every issue is connected to our environment – housing, transportation, the economy, racial and social justice. Climate action cannot be an afterthought or a secondary consideration. Addressing the climate crisis with urgency – and agency – we will:
We all have a stake in preventing climate catastrophe – and, more so, an obligation to our youth and future generations to live up to this moment. From crisis rises opportunity – and as your Mayor, I will bring the city together around a shared vision to defeat climate change and ensure a healthy environment and a more equitable city for all. A Robust Transportation Network and Infrastructure to Match Access to affordable, reliable transportation opens new doors and a city full of possibilities. We need the kind of expansive and synergistic transit system that connects people to the places they want to go and lives up to this city’s innovative spirit. Meanwhile, Seattle’s decaying infrastructure puts this potential at risk – ill-equipped to keep up with the city’s growth, creating long commutes and transportation headaches. We must solve existing issues and proactively respond to future challenges. With your vote, I will act on critical transportation priorities to:
As Mayor, I’ll look holistically at our transportation system, to improve service, make needed infrastructure investments, and committing to equitable, reliable service for every resident. By doing so, we will lower emissions, reduce commute times, and boast a world-class transportation system that connects neighbors to jobs, schools, and each other. Reducing Gun Violence in our City Gun violence is a preventable public health crisis that disproportionately impacts BIPOC and lower income communities. It is a crisis that has grown in Seattle, where a full 50% of firearm homicides take the lives of Black residents, primarily young men, a number hugely disproportionate to the population as a whole. This overall rise in gun violence is made worse by recent white supremacist action, creating the need to act on open carry and public intimidation and threat by those who come to our city seeking to do harm. As a community we will have zero tolerance for hate, and zero tolerance for armed intimidation. We must take action to reduce gun violence in our city – and across the state and nation. While state preemption laws prevent Seattle from taking unilateral action to ban firearms and firearm use in our city, we can elect a Mayor who will be a strong advocate for responsible gun laws, and will work locally to to address gun crimes and health impacts including:
As Mayor, I will prioritize a safe and welcoming city – regardless of where you live, work, express your faith, or go to school. We must reduce the threats of gun violence and give everyone a chance to live life to their fullest potential.[10] |
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| —Bruce Harrell’s campaign website (2021)[14] | ||
Andrew Grant Houston
Houston's campaign website stated the following themes.
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STAY IN SEATTLE PLAN Rent Control: Commercial And Residential Home Ownership Program Expansion Development Displacement Mitigation Fee REVISION ZERO PLAN Public Restrooms In My Backyard Defund SPD, Refund Community Safety CLEAN TECH CAPITAL PLAN Seattle City Light and Broadband Libraries and Mediatheques for You and Me FOREST CITY, VILLAGE CITY PLAN Office of Non-English, Immigrant, and Refugee Affairs A Community Center for Every Community Parking Reform: For Parks, Schools, and More |
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| —Andrew Grant Houston’s campaign website (2021)[15] | ||
Casey Sixkiller
Sixkiller's campaign website stated the following themes.
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READY TO LEAD Being mayor of Seattle is the hardest job in the city. I know — I’ve been serving as deputy mayor during one of the most challenging periods in our city’s history. This is a moment that requires a mayor ready to lead from Day One. I am the only candidate who has managed large, complex organizations and who has a record of turning words into action and driving for results. AN EQUITABLE COVID-19 RECOVERY Seattle was the first major U.S. city to face the unknowns of COVID-19. Our response required decisive, sometimes unpopular decisions, and a rapid scaling of resources — from standing up free testing facilities to getting food to families in need and supporting our most vulnerable neighbors — all of which saved lives. A year later and we are leading the nation in vaccination rates and are on a path to re-opening our economy. But there is more work to be done. Recovery is our opportunity to build a stronger, more equitable Seattle with vibrant and resilient neighborhoods, thriving small businesses, and an economy that works for all of us. It requires a call to action that brings us together, clarity of shared purpose, and both fresh ideas and bold actions to get the job done. LET’S R.I.S.E. TOGETHER The Seattle of my childhood has been transformed by unprecedented population growth and economic expansion that has pushed the median household income to more than $102,000, an increase of $33,000 since 2010. But not everyone is benefiting from this success and many are being left behind. Today nearly a quarter of Seattle’s families earn less than $50,000 a year — even less for Black and Native families — and for them this past year has been even more challenging, as they have struggled to make ends meet. My Reliable Income Supporting Equity (R.I.S.E.) program will build on lessons learned from supporting families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to pilot the largest guaranteed basic income program in the nation. If we truly want a more equitable Seattle, then we need to invest in working families so they are part of it. Article link. The data, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey‘s 1-year estimates, showed the median household income in 2019 went up to $102,486, up from $93,481 in 2018. It reflected a continued trend in Seattle over the last several years. THRIVING SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS The pandemic laid bare the inequities that exist throughout Seattle and caused deep, economic harm to our small businesses and the thousands of frontline and gig workers that hold our city together. Every empty storefront or shuttered restaurant is a loss to our communities. We need to do more to help small businesses so they can move beyond surviving to thriving. This includes small business stabilization grants, B&O tax relief, and other supports to help get businesses reopened and hiring. Longer-term we need to do more to keep small businesses rooted in their neighborhoods, not priced out by new development. And we need to build on our groundbreaking protections for gig workers so they have access to benefits and the peace of mind that Seattle is a place they can continue to call home. RESILIENT NEIGHBORHOODS The path to economic recovery and a stronger, more inclusive Seattle begins and ends with our neighborhoods. Clean streets, sidewalks, thriving small businesses, parks and open space for community gatherings, grocery stores, access to reliable and affordable transportation, and other amenities are the hallmarks of a resilient neighborhood. Now more than ever before we need to work to ensure every neighborhood succeeds by working with communities to meet their needs while protecting what makes each neighborhood uniquely Seattle. AN EQUITABLE FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN As a father, I want every child to have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. It starts with supporting families by making childcare more affordable and accessible, and investing in early childhood development. I will expand the number of city-funded childcare centers and limit co-pays to seven percent of household income so working families can continue to invest in their family’s future, not the rising cost of childcare. And we need to do more to ensure every child is ready to learn. Today one-third of children across Seattle enter kindergarten already behind. By expanding the City’s pre-K program we can ensure every three and four-year-old benefits from high-quality, classroom-based instruction, while keeping the opportunity gap from ever opening in the first place. MOVING OUR UNSHELTERED NEIGHBORS INTO HOMES If there is one thing that we can all agree on it’s that our homeless services system is not working. It’s not working for our unsheltered neighbors and the conditions in our parks and on our streets are inhumane. Despite spending a record amount of funding last year – $100 million more than just two years earlier – homelessness in Seattle has gotten worse. Every neighborhood and business district across the city is feeling a sense of helplessness. We cannot fix twenty years of broken systems and failed efforts at every level of government overnight. But we can — and must — do better. My plan includes five key components: first, we need to continue efforts already underway to expand tiny home villages and the temporary use of hotels so more people can come inside and get connected to the services they need; second, we need to increase the performance and accountability of the shelter system and its operators to achieve the outcomes we want; third, we need to build 3,000 permanent places for individuals to call home; fourth, given that 40 percent of all people served by the City last year were last housed somewhere other than Seattle, we need to double down on a regional response so other cities and communities are part of the solution; and finally, each of these investments must be paired with a renewed commitment to keeping our parks and business districts encampment free. Solving homelessness is complex but it is not impossible for us to make progress if we rise above rhetoric. We can get more people inside and end their experience with homelessness while also returning our public spaces to their intended uses. COMMUNITY SAFETY THAT WORKS FOR ALL OF US Every Seattle resident should be able to walk down the street and feel safe. But that is not the case today. Despite years of efforts at reforming policing, if you are a person of color in Seattle your experience with law enforcement is very different than most and more likely to involve an armed police response. We must make changes to shift the approach and culture of policing in Seattle to be community-based and community-informed, and more accountable. Moving more 911 calls away from an armed police officer is a critical first step. It will require expanding crisis response programs like Health One, doubling the City’s unarmed civilian Community Service Officers program, and scaling up non-profit community safety programs so they can respond in real time. It also requires new and expanded harm reduction programs focused on high-barrier individuals committing crimes that are having a disproportionate impact on small businesses but for whom jail is neither the answer nor the solution. We need to move away from minimum staffing levels for police officers and instead rightsize the force so we can reduce 911 crisis response times and transition to a micro-policing model that gets officers out of their cars and back to building relationships in the communities they serve. Culture change requires reforming hiring practices to increase racial and cultural diversity, ongoing training requirements with an emphasis on non-lethal tools and crisis response, and setting a community-informed standard of excellence, transparency, and accountability for officer conduct and removal. LEADING THE NATION IN COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE Addressing climate change is a moral, economic and environmental imperative for the future of Seattle. In my career, I have worked to increase investments in renewable energy, expand mass transit, advance environmental justice, and preserve and protect our public lands. Combating climate change requires taking bold actions and a steadfast commitment to lowering carbon emissions year over year. Continuing to convert our fossil fuel infrastructure and networks to net neutral emissions is an essential component, as is the greening of our buildings and materials. I will work to reset our building standards, create incentives for the conversion from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, and the development of a new carbon neutral transportation network. We need to lean into the green economy and build pipelines, in partnership with labor, to bring the next generation of our workforce into good paying jobs that literally are fueling Seattle’s transition to carbon neutral buildings and infrastructure. GREATER RESOURCES AND INVESTMENTS IN OUR LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY Seattle’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community is a hallmark of our city. As mayor, I’ll make certain that Seattle is safe and welcoming for our LGBTQ+ residents, especially our trans and nonbinary folks and persons of color who still face far too much hostility, discrimination and violence in our country. I’ll invest in supporting small businesses to help preserve and create more LGBTQ+ spaces, since too many have been lost to economic displacement or COVID-19. I will do more to support the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ individuals in Seattle. I’ll work with Seattle Public Schools to make our schools a safe haven for transgender and other queer students. I’ll shift investments to make sure LGBTQ+ homeless youth have access to housing, health care and all other resources in the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. I will also champion a renewed focus on providing more resources and investments in the LGBTQ+ aging community, to ensure that LGBTQ+ elders are supported and not left to languish in social isolation.[10] |
” |
| —Casey Sixkiller’s campaign website (2021)[16] | ||
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.
Colleen Echohawk
- "They Had Their Chance" - Echohawk campaign ad, released July 27, 2021
- "Mike McCready Endorses Colleen Echohawk for Mayor!" - Echohawk campaign ad, released July 22, 2021
- "Let's turn this around Seattle" - Echohawk campaign ad, released July 8, 2021
Jessyn Farrell
- "Seattle Needs a Flipping Fresh Approach" - Farrell campaign ad, released July 2, 2021
- "Fresh Start" - Farrell campaign ad, released July 2, 2021
Lorena González
- "The Gap" - González campaign ad, released July 14, 2021
- Click here to view an ad on González's campaign website.
Bruce Harrell
Questionnaires
The Urbanist questionnaire responses
- Colleen Echohawk
- Jessyn Farrell
- Lorena González
- Bruce Harrell
- Andrew Grant Houston
- Lance Randall
- Casey Sixkiller
Asian Counseling and Referral Service questionnaire responses
Click here to read responses to the questionnaire from Bliss, Donaldson, Echohawk, Farrell, González, Harrell, Houston, Rivers, and Sixkiller.
Downtown Seattle Alliance
Click here to read questionnaire responses from Echohawk, González, Harrell, Langlie, Randall, and Sixkiller.
Debates and forums
July 22, 2021
Donaldson, Echohawk, Farrell, Harrell, Houston, Langlie, Randall, and Rivers participated in a forum hosted by local arts organizations.
Click here to watch the forum.
July 21, 2021
Bliss, Donaldson, Echohawk, Farrell, González, Harrell, Houston, Rivers, and Sixkiller participated in an Asian and Pacific Islander candidate forum.
Click here to watch the forum.
June 29, 2021
Colleen Echohawk, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, Art Langlie, and Casey Sixkiller participated in a Downtown Seattle Alliance forum.
|
Five candidates participated in a forum held by the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and Grandmothers Against Gun Violence: Echohawk, Farrell, González, Harrell, and Houston. Candidates with at least 1,000 donors were invited to participate.[17]
Click here to watch the forum.
June 16, 2021
The Move All Seattle Sustainably coalition hosted a forum featuring Farrell, González, Harrell, Houston, and Randall. Echohawk and Sixkiller were also invited to the forum but did not attend.
Click here to watch the forum.
June 5, 2021
Eight candidates participated in a forum sponsored by the 34th District Democrats: Colleen Echohawk, Jessyn Farrell, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, Andrew Grant Houston, Lance Randall, Don Rivers, and Casey Sixkiller. All candidates were invited to participate.[18]
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Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
| Seattle mayoral election, 2021: Primary election polls | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Date | Other | Harrell | González | Echohawk | Farrell | Houston | Sixkiller | Langlie | Randall | Donaldson | Tucker | Tahir-Garrett | Bliss | Dennison | Lippmann | Rivers | Margin of error | Sample size | Sponsor |
| Change Research | July 12-15, 2021 | 33%[19] | 20% | 12% | 10% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ± 4.3 | 617 LV | Northwest Progressive Institute |
Campaign finance
Campaign contributions for each candidate are below.
Totals include funds from the Democracy Voucher Program. The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission distributed Democracy Vouchers to Seattle residents in early 2021. Each eligible resident received four vouchers worth $25 each. Under the program, residents can give some or all vouchers to city election candidates who are participating in the program.[20] Participating candidates are held to contribution and spending limits, unless the commission releases them from those limits (see below for more information).[21] Democracy Voucher fund totals for each applicable candidate are shown in orange below.
Candidates released from voucher program spending limits
The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission approved requests from Echohawk, González, and Houston to lift their voucher program spending limits. My Northwest reported the following on July 5:[22]
| “ |
Typically, mayoral campaigns participating in the city’s Democracy Voucher program are limited to $400,000 of spending in the primary election, and then a combined $800,000 between the primary and general election. Houston had first requested to have that cap lifted last Monday, pointing to the combined spending between opponent Bruce Harrell and an independent expenditure committee (IEC) in his name. To date, the combined expenditures between the “Harrell for Seattle’s Future” IEC and Harrell’s actual campaign has already crested the $400,000 mark. And although the Harrell campaign is not coordinating with or directly linked to the IEC, the city still allows opposing campaigns to use that combined sum as a justification for getting their own spending caps lifted.[10] |
” |
Satellite spending
Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[23][24][25]
This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.
The following figures were reported as of July 30:[26]
- Bruce Harrell for Seattle's Future had spent $265,761 supporting Harrell.
- Essential Workers for Lorena had spent $443,039 supporting González.
- New Generation Leaders PAC had spent $29,230 supporting Echohawk.
- Seattle United for Progressive Change spent $104,500 supporting Farrell.
Timeline
- July 22, 2021: Eight candidates participated in a forum hosted by local arts organizations.
- July 21, 2021: Nine candidates participated in a forum on Asian and Pacific Islander issues.
- Juy 16, 2021: Northwest Progressive Institute released results of a poll conducted by Change Research showing 32% of respondents unsure who they would vote for and Harrell with 20% support, González with 12%, Echohawk with 10%, and Farrell and Houston each with 6%. The margin of error was +/- 4.3 percentage points.[27]
- July 15, 2021: Essential Workers for Lorena reported spending $431,039 supporting González. Harrell for Sea Future reported spending $121,236 supporting Harrell.[28]
Background: 2019 city council elections
The 2019 elections for seven Seattle City Council seats took place amid conflict surrounding a 2018 tax on businesses grossing at least $20 million. The city council passed the tax in May 2018 and repealed it the next month following opposition from the business community.[31]
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce opposed the tax. Its political action committee (PAC), Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE), received $1.5 million from Amazon—which is headquartered in Seattle—and spent around $2 million supporting and opposing candidates in 2019. The PAC endorsed in all seven races.[32][33] The PAC Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy (CAPE) formed in 2019, spending around $350,000 in opposition to some CASE-backed candidates and supporting different candidates in five races.
Two CASE-backed candidates (Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez) and four CAPE-backed candidates (Lisa Herbold, Tammy Morales, Kshama Sawant, and Dan Strauss) won in 2019.
In 2020, the Seattle City Council passed a tax on companies with payrolls of $7 million or more a year. The tax passed on a 7-2 vote with five sponsors, including González. Juarez and Pedersen voted against it. Durkan opposed the ordinance and let it pass unsigned.
CASE announced it would not spend toward the 2021 elections, and as of July 30, 2021, CAPE had not been active in the races.[33][34]
Mayoral partisanship
Mayoral elections were held in 28 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021. Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 64 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.
The following top-100 mayoral offices changed partisan control in 2021:
- Mayor John J. Lee of North Las Vegas, Nevada, announced that he was changing his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican on April 6, 2021.[35]
- David Bronson (R) was elected as mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, on May 11, 2021. He assumed office on July 1, 2021, replacing nonpartisan Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson.
Primaries in Washington
Washington uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot, for congressional and state-level elections. The top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[36][37]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Past elections
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. Jenny Durkan defeated Cary Moon in the general election for mayor of Seattle.[38]
| Mayor of Seattle, General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jenny Durkan |
56.53% | 118,803 |
| Cary Moon | 43.47% | 91,345 |
| Total Votes | 210,148 | |
| Source: King County, "November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed November 28, 2017 | ||
The following candidates ran in the primary election for mayor of Seattle.[38]
| Mayor of Seattle, Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jenny Durkan |
27.90% | 51,529 |
| Cary Moon |
17.62% | 32,536 |
| Nikkita Oliver | 16.99% | 31,366 |
| Jessyn Farrell | 12.54% | 23,160 |
| Bob Hasegawa | 8.39% | 15,500 |
| Mike McGinn | 6.50% | 12,001 |
| Gary Brose | 2.16% | 3,987 |
| Harley Lever | 1.81% | 3,340 |
| Larry Oberto | 1.67% | 3,089 |
| Greg Hamilton | 0.92% | 1,706 |
| Michael Harris | 0.76% | 1,401 |
| Casey Carlisle | 0.71% | 1,309 |
| James Norton Jr. | 0.54% | 988 |
| Thom Gunn | 0.25% | 455 |
| Mary Martin | 0.23% | 422 |
| Jason Roberts | 0.22% | 405 |
| Lewis Jones | 0.19% | 344 |
| Alex Tsimerman | 0.14% | 253 |
| Keith Whiteman | 0.09% | 174 |
| Tiniell Cato | 0.09% | 170 |
| Dave Kane | 0.06% | 114 |
| Write-in votes | 0.23% | 418 |
| Total Votes | 184,667 | |
| Source: King County, "2017 election results," accessed August 15, 2017 | ||
2013
| Mayor of Seattle, 2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Ed Murray |
52.1% | 106,384 | |
| Mike McGinn Incumbent | 47.9% | 97,935 | |
| Total Votes | 204,319 | ||
| Source: Seattle, Washington, "Historical Election Results," accessed June 21, 2017 | |||
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.[5]
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
- ↑ King County, "King County Elections Calendar," accessed June 24, 2021
- ↑ MyNorthwest, "First candidates concede as November showdown for Seattle mayor takes shape," August 6, 2021
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan won’t run for reelection," December 7, 2020
- ↑ Chief Seattle Club, "History and Mission," accessed July 1, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 City of Seattle, "Elected Officials," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 The Seattle Times, "Endorsements roll in for Seattle mayoral, council races," July 15, 2021
- ↑ Twitter, "Mike McGinn on June 24, 2021," accessed June 28, 2021
- ↑ Downtown Seattle Association, "Candidate Scorecard," accessed July 16, 2021
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Colleen Echohawks campaign website, “Platform,” accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Jessyn Farrell's 2021 campaign website, "Issues," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Lorena González's 2021 campaign website, "Issues," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Bruce Harrell's 2021 campaign website, "Issues," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Andrew Grant Houston's 2021 campaign website, "Policy," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Casey Sixkiller's 2021 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Seattle mayoral candidates debate gun violence, downtown recovery as race intensifies," updated July 1, 2021
- ↑ West Seattle Blog, "VIDEO: See how 8 Seattle mayor candidates answered 8 questions at the 34th District Democrats’ forum," June 5, 2021
- ↑ Not sure: 32%
Would not vote: 1% - ↑ King5, "Democracy vouchers: Seattle voters will soon have $100 sitting in their mailbox," February 16, 2021
- ↑ Seattle.gov, "Title 2 - ELECTIONS," accessed June 28, 2021
- ↑ My Northwest, "Floodgates open, as trio of Seattle mayoral candidates gets spending limit lifted," July 5, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
- ↑ Seattle.gov, "Ethics and Elections Commission, 2021 IE Committees," accessed July 30, 2021
- ↑ Northwest Progressive Institute, "Bruce Harrell, Lorena González lead in 2021 Seattle mayoral race with many undecided," July 16, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsatellite - ↑ The Stranger, "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August 3, 2021, Primary Election," July 14, 2021
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "The Times recommends: Bruce Harrell for Seattle mayor," July 9, 2021
- ↑ Geek Wire, "Seattle repeals head tax 7-2 in dramatic reversal that leaves city divided over homeless crisis," June 12, 2018
- ↑ GeekWire, "Amazon gives $1M to group seeking to upend Seattle City Council in upcoming election," October 15, 2019
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 The Seattle Times, "Seattle businesses and politicians are at odds. The new Chamber CEO is calling a truce," April 10, 2021
- ↑ Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, "2021 IE Committees," accessed July 2, 2021
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee says he’s becoming a Republican," April 6, 2021
- ↑ NCSL, "State Primary Election Types," accessed October 3, 2024
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Top 2 Primary: FAQs for Candidates," accessed October 3, 2024
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 King County, Washington, "Who has filed: 2017 candidate filing," accessed May 19, 2017
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