Bruce Harrell has won race for Seattle mayor, defeating M. Lorena González, as vote counting continues in local contests

Bruce Harrell becomes Seattle’s next mayor, defeating M. Lorena González in a race dominated by opposing approaches to homelessness and public safety.

When more votes were counted on Thursday, Harrell declared victory in a campaign email. thank and tell his supporters“We did it” and promised to rule with “the urgency and humility this moment demands”. González admitted that she called Harrell to congratulate him.

Harrell has 62% of the mayoral campaign, with about three-quarters of the votes now counted. He becomes the 57th mayor of Seattle, the city’s first Asian-American mayor, and the city’s second black mayor.

The 63-year-old former city council president, who played on the University of Washington football team and worked as a lawyer before entering politics, is already entering mayoral mode, encouraged by “over 500 emails and text messages” from enthusiastic supporters. he said in an interview Thursday from a transitional office in the Seattle Municipal Tower.

“I’m full of energy and I’m ready,” said Harrell, who ran at a moderate pace while González, 44, the current President of the Council, ran as a self-described progressive.

In her statement of concession, González said, “With today’s vote it is clear that Bruce Harrell will be the next Seattle mayor. I called him earlier to congratulate him on a highly competitive race and I wished him the best of luck in his endeavors to meet the challenges in Seattle. “

Harrell, who served on the council from 2008 to 2019, posed as a political unifier while pledging to step up aid to vulnerable people and keep the city’s parks free from homeless camps.

He criticized González’s support last year for defusing the police to fund community solutions and alternative approaches to public safety, saying he would, in contrast, urge the recruitment of more armed police and unarmed first responders. His campaign was supported by a number of longtime political and community leaders, and his candidacy was fueled by political spending from property managers and other business interests.

Raised in the Central District by a black father who worked for Seattle City Light after leaving Jim Crow South and a Japanese-American mother who worked for the public library after she was imprisoned by the government as a child during World War II Harrell mentioned his parents in an email to supporters Thursday in which they said “the barriers they have overcome” and their hard work “inspired me to give back through advocacy and public service.”

Campaigning, he added, “We have spent countless hours greeting voters at grocery stores and farmers markets across Seattle and listening to our neighbors’ stories, ideas and priorities. What we kept hearing was the belief in our city despite many challenges – and the conviction that we can do better. And now the real work begins together. “

González justified her campaign by saying that she was willing to tax large corporations and the wealthy on affordable housing and said she would try to avoid forced relocations of camps. With strong union support, she vowed to be a pioneer for workers and tenants at City Hall, and shared her background as a child of farm workers in central Washington with parents who had no papers when they arrived from Mexico.

In her declaration of concession, she thanked her supporters and urged them to get involved.

“Our work continues because the struggles the people of Seattle are facing persist,” she said. “Together we shaped the conversation about our city’s most pressing problems, and in response to our pressures, Mayor-elect Harrell has pledged not to criminalize poverty, expand advanced sources of income, demilitarize the police force, and provide alternative responses to public safety to invest. “calls for suitable accommodation to be created quickly and not forcibly to sweep the uninhabited out of the public space.”

About 118,000 additional ballots were counted across King County on Thursday, including about 46,000 in Seattle, allowing left-lane candidates to gain ground in multiple competitions.

González, who was 30 percentage points behind Harrell on Tuesday evening, narrowed that gap to 24 points on Thursday and secured 45% of the additional votes. But maybe Seattle only has 65,000 ballots left to count. González should win an overwhelming serving of the remaining votes to overtake Harrell.

In recent years, post-election night Seattle results for candidates in the left lane have changed as younger and more progressive voters return their ballots later. No race has swung mmore than about 12 percentage points, However.

Harrell will take office on January 1, with a transition period before that. He will replace current Mayor Jenny Durkan, who stood up for re-election after a turbulent 2020 that included the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic upheaval, the closure of the West Seattle Bridge and mass demonstrations against racial injustice in the US to run for after the assassination of George Floyd.

“I’ve known Bruce for over 30 years and I know that as Mayor he will work hard for the people of Seattle,” Durkan said in a statement Thursday, promising a “seamless transition and thanking González for her service at City Hall.

Durkan added, “Voters showed their commitment to a just and hopeful future for all Seattle residents. I know Bruce wants every family to thrive in Seattle. He will bring people together to tackle the tough challenges we face regarding COVID-19, homelessness, public safety and climate change. I hope all of Seattle will join him in supporting him during these critical times. “

Daniel Beekmann:
206-464-2164 or dbeekman@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @dbeekman. Seattle Times reporter Daniel Beekman covers the Seattle city council and local politics.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bruce-harrell-has-won-race-for-seattle-mayor-defeating-m-lorena-gonzalez-as-vote-counting-continues-in-local-contests/
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