Bruce Harrell maintains edge over Katie Wilson in Seattle mayor's race

David Kroman, The Seattle Times on Nov 5, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

SEATTLE — Mayor Bruce Harrell’s lead over challenger Katie Wilson grew slightly on Wednesday, following the afternoon drop of roughly 23,000 new Seattle ballots.

After leading Wilson by just over 7 percentage points Tuesday night, Harrell’s margin is now up to 8, 53.8% to 45.7%.

Though left-wing candidates in Seattle usually gain ground in late-counted ballots, that trend often does not show up until the Thursday after the election, when the bulk of ballots left in dropboxes are counted. Wednesday’s count, by contrast, is generally a continuation of election night, in which Harrell did well.

The race is still a toss up: Harrell’s election night lead is narrow enough that Wilson could close the gap but wide enough that it would not be surprising for him to hold on to win.

For Harrell, the tight race already represents a comeback. He trailed Wilson by nearly 10 points in the primary and came into the general election as the underdog. His performance Tuesday exceeded his results in August.

Wilson, meanwhile, is hoping she can repeat her primary performance, when she started with roughly the same proportion of votes — about 46% — and ended with just over 50%. If she does, she would win narrowly.

Harrell came into 2025 as the heavy favorite to win a second term. He’s been in City Hall for most of the last two decades and had locked up endorsements from a wide range of business, labor and elected figures.

But Wilson predicted voters wanted a message more focused affordability and progressive taxation — a gamble that paid off in the primary.

Following Wilson’s surprise success, Harrell’s team shifted its campaign strategy, away from painting her as too left wing and toward questioning her experience. His message was amplified by nearly $2 million in independent contributions on top of more than $1 million raised for his official campaign.

Wilson stuck to her message that Harrell had squandered his years in office and bore partial responsibility for the city’s failings on homelessness and the cost of living. She was supported by just over $400,000 in independent donations, much of it from labor unions, in addition to $1 million in campaign funds.

New ballots will be released each afternoon until all votes are counted.

King County elections spokesperson Kendall LeVan Hodson said they expect “at least” another 180,00 ballots countywide, roughly half of which will be in Seattle.