Two opposites taking center stage vying to become next Seattle City Attorney

A view of the Seattle City Attorney race

FOX 13 News reporter Hana Kim will take a closer look at two candidates who hope to be Seattle’s next city attorney

SEATTLE, wash – The Seattle City Attorney race has attracted national attention since incumbent Pete Holmes was ousted in the August primary.

Now two women are going into election day and they couldn’t be more different.

There’s Ann Davison, a Republican vying for support in a city full of Democratic voters, and then there’s Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, a police abolitionist who wants to overhaul the entire criminal justice system.

“For us as a civilized society, the rule of law must be important,” said Davison.

“Prosecuting most offenses does not make it safer,” said Thomas-Kennedy.

Thomas-Kennedy has called herself a “law enforcement abolitionist anarchist,” so FOX 13 asked her exactly what that means.

“I didn’t say that, I said I read like a law enforcement abolitionist-anarchist,” said Thomas Kennedy.

Thomas Kennedy went on to say.

“I think people saw my tweets. I think they know how it reads, but I think what’s missing from the conversation about the tweets is what happened then, so in 2020, millions of people across the country took to the streets to protest racist police killings protest, “said Thomas-Kennedy.

These tweets were sent before Thomas-Kennedy decided to run for city attorney. She praised arsonists as heroes, police officers as serial killers and once called on Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz to “eat some COVID-laced shit”.

At the end of July, FOX 13 News asked Thomas-Kennedy about their tweet, which called the destruction of property a moral imperative. Thomas-Kennedy called it a joke at the time. As for the other statements, she did not withdraw from them during our interview in October.

“I was angry when I had to buy my 9 year old daughter a gas mask and yes, I was angry and rightly so. Lots of people in this neighborhood were like that too, it wasn’t just me, ”said Thomas-Kennedy.

Thomas-Kennedy says she didn’t take her 9-year-old to the protests, but she did participate in the Capitol Hill protests over the summer.

The city attorney will play a variety of roles including providing legal advice on guidelines and laws. The lawyer also has to represent various departments in court proceedings.

Thomas-Kennedy said her opponent Davison was not qualified for the job.

“I’ve been the attorney on over 600 cases. She has handled a total of six cases in her entire career, each for over a decade,” said Thomas-Kennedy.

“The prosecutor’s role is not to be on trial every day, which sounds like she believes it. “Said David.

Davison called Thomas-Kennedy’s rhetoric hateful and divisive.

“Straight forward, [I] can’t even repeat what she said. I find it so disgusting and glorifies violence, “Davison said.

The prosecution is pursuing crimes that haunt the city of Seattle. The repeat offender problem is a problem Seattle has not been able to address, and it often overlaps with mental illness, drug addiction, and poverty.

“I don’t think what’s happening is significant,” Davison said.

Davison said the city needs cooperation to find solutions.

“We leave companies to their own devices and have employees who feel unsafe in the workplace,” said Davison.

Davison would be tougher on some crimes, such as domestic violence, assault, and repeated theft.

“So in order not to prosecute most offenses, we are sending the message that our laws are meaningless and that we are encouraging people to commit bad deeds,” said Davison.

Davison insists that she also wants to work with community groups to treat people with drug addiction and mental illness.

“If some of these alternatives don’t provide accountability, we need to restore that and put that in,” Davison said.

“The repeat offender is the best and best example of how the current system doesn’t work,” said Thomas-Kennedy.

She says her focus is crime deterrence, but she would do so by not prosecuting most crimes.

Community organizations would take over instead of courts.

We asked how she would tell the victims that their perpetrators would not be held accountable.

“I don’t think I’m telling this to entrepreneurs and survivors. First, for survivors, by and large most of them … and there are studies that say they don’t want longer prison terms. What they want to know is that they don’t want to get hurt again, “said Thomas-Kennedy.

She says she wants to set up a victim compensation fund.

Thomas-Kennedy also wants to expose the police. David doesn’t.

Thomas-Kennedy has received many endorsements, including support from major unions and members of the Seattle City Council. She was also supported by Lorena Gonzalez, who is running for Seattle mayorship.

Davison received the support of two former Democratic governors, Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke, along with 30 retired judges, which is unprecedented.

Watch FOX 13 at 10:45 PM for the full story of the two contestants.

Previous reporting:

EXCLUSIVE: A Seattle City attorney candidate’s tweets were bad. Your campaign manager’s are worse

2 former Washington governors support Anne Davison as an attorney for the city of Seattle

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