Republican Ann Davison leads police abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in Seattle City Attorney race

Republican Ann Davison led in the race for the Seattle City Attorney a big lead of 58% to 41%.

No race in Tuesday’s city elections has been fraught with more unpredictable consequences than the race for Seattle’s official attorney, who has traditionally prosecuted minor crimes and provided legal advice and defense to the city and its employees, including the police.

At one end stood Thomas-Kennedy, a former public defender who wants to end criminal prosecution for good. During the race riots that swept the city in the summer of 2020, she tweeted her “insane hatred of the police” and declared the destruction of property in times of protest a “moral imperative”.

At the other end was Seattle attorney and arbitrator Davison, whose alleged transgression was seen as just as bad for some in liberal Seattle as anything her opponent said on social media: she declared herself a Republican in 2020 while President Donald Trump in the white sat house.

Davison’s supporters, gathered at the old Seattle Firehouse # 38 in Ravenna, cheered when the results were announced.

“Thank you for dedicating a part of your life to this campaign,” Davison told the crowd. “If we focus on what we have in common that unite us as people, we will go a long way.”

Reaction in Thomas-Kennedy’s camp, which had gathered in Taco City Taqueria, Columbia City, was subdued. The candidate did not speak to the media after the initial results were announced.

Speaking to the crowd in the early evening, she told her supporters that the race had been “unreal” and that she had hope regardless of what the early return might show.

“I know there are so many people who have worked so hard to get me here, and not only that, but also people who have worked before me to explain to people what abolition really is,” said Thomas-Kennedy. “Whatever the results tonight, they are not the bottom line.”

None of the candidates has previously held public office. For the 46-year-old Thomas-Kennedy, this was the first term in office. Davison, 53, ran for office twice unsuccessfully, in 2019 as a Democrat for the city council and in 2020 as a Republican for lieutenant governor.

Regardless of this, the winner will be the first woman to work as a city attorney, dating back to 1875.

The winner replaces three-year city attorney Pete Holmes, who got caught in the crossfire between the other two candidates. Davison pilloried Holmes for not being tough enough on crimes, while Thomas-Kennedy attacked him for being too tough.

The winner will take over an office of 200 lawyers and a budget of $ 35 million. The office prosecutes administrative offenses and administrative offenses, advises the mayor and municipal council on legal matters and defends the city and its employees against lawsuits, including against police officers, who are accused of misconduct.

However, much of the focus and criticism during the campaign was on how the two candidates handled criminal offenses – from drunk driving to shoplifting.

Thomas-Kennedy said it will work to reduce – and eventually eliminate – prosecution of offenses by advocating unpunished alternatives, arguing that these are wasteful and criminalize poverty. For repeated drunk driving, minor assaults, and violent crimes, law enforcement would remain an option, but most defendants would be referred to mental health, addiction, or restorative justice programs.

On the civil side, Thomas-Kennedy has announced that it will defend progressive tax laws, sue fossil fuel companies, and work to lift the government’s ban on positive action.

Thomas-Kennedy’s abolitionist platform was particularly heated in an editorial by three former police chiefs who warned of “anarchy” and said that the already under-staffed SPD would continue to suffer.

She said her controversial tweets in the past were “purposely inflammatory” and “absurd satire”.

Thomas-Kennedy, who has been an attorney for five years, has been supported by traditional Democratic Party organizations, trade unions, and dozens of criminal defense lawyers and civil rights advocates.

Davison, an attorney and arbitrator who is running for the third year running, was vague about her specific plans but generally advocated a more aggressive stance on burgeoning homeless camps and people who repeatedly commit crimes.

She has spoken out in favor of clearing homeless camps – a tactic that has been heavily criticized for the past two years – and proposed moving these residents to emergency shelters in warehouses.

Davison has stressed that even though she ran for Republican last year, she is “not a partisan”. However, she has been criticized for joining the #WalkAway (by the Democratic Party) project, launched by Brandon Straka, a Trump supporter who campaigned for his involvement in the January 6 riots in the US Capitol pleaded guilty.

Davison’s critics also questioned her lack of courtroom experience compared to Thomas-Kennedy: Davison has only handled a handful of civil cases in court and has no experience with administrative offenses.

Davison, who has been a business attorney for 16 years, won the support of two former governors, both Democrats – Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke – and big business and technology leaders looking to clean up downtown.

Seattle Times reporters Elise Takahama and Scott Greenstone contributed to this report.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republican-ann-davison-leading-abolitionist-nicole-thomas-kennedy-in-seattle-city-attorney-race/
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