Co-founder of Seattle Transit Riders Union Wins Mayoral Bid

On Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump signed a controversial funding bill to reopen the federal government after a record 43-day shutdown. Also that day in the 'other' Washington, the 780,000 residents of the state's largest city learned who their new mayor would be.

"As of Wednesday evening, when the Seattle Times called the race, Wilson had garnered [pdf] 138,489 votes, a 1,976 vote lead over her opponent, Bruce Harrell, the first-term incumbent," reported Jared Brey for Governing on Nov. 14.

Wilson is a well-known activist in Seattle and the head of the Transit Riders Union, an advocacy group that has campaigned for a range of progressive causes related to transportation, housing and the cost of living.

Wilson is a former columnist for the Seattle news website, Crosscut, now Cascade PBS. Two of her columns were posted here by James Brasuell, AICP, Planetizen's former editorial director:

• "Eviction Moratorium Spurs Passionate Debate in Seattle," October 5, 2021
• "The Psychic Forces of NIMBY Rage," September 23, 2019

"Wilson, 43, is new to elected office, but she’s spent years as an activist advocating for progressive policies," reported Nate Sanford for Cascade PBS on Nov. 14. "In a victory speech at a Seattle union hall, she described herself as a socialist and a progressive, and reiterated her campaign's core focus on affordability."

Mamdani comparison welcomed

"Wilson has welcomed comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who won New York City’s mayoral race," adds Brey for Governing in the source article.

She supports raising taxes on big businesses, and was the “intellectual architect” of Seattle’s Jumpstart Tax, a tax on corporations with large payrolls, according to [Sandeep Kaushik, a local political consultant.] But she has also said she’s “not going to be stupid” about how she approaches progressive taxation as mayor.

For more on Wilson from a local perspective, Fox 13 Seattle takes a closer look at the new mayor, noting that "her campaign has touted Wilson's role in designing the ORCA LIFT program," a low-income discount fare program for the Puget Sound region.