Moderate candidates leading liberals in Seattle's top races

3 years ago 212

SEATTLE – Moderate candidates took important leads successful aboriginal Seattle predetermination returns Tuesday pursuing a months-long statement astir however to code the city’s problems of homelessness, policing and radical and economical injustice.

In the mayor’s race, Bruce Harrell, a erstwhile City Council president, was up of existent City Council President M. Lorena González. Harrell had criticized his hostile for supporting the extremity of cutting the Seattle Police Department’s fund successful fractional — a presumption she has since softened.

And successful the usually low-key contention for metropolis attorney, which besides drew nationalist attention, Ann Davison, who pronounced herself a Republican successful overwhelmingly Democratic Seattle successful 2020, was starring constabulary and jailhouse abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy. Davison had said Thomas-Kennedy’s policies would jeopardize nationalist safety.

While Harrell and Davison present clasp beardown leads, it could beryllium days earlier determination are wide winners. Liberal candidates successful Seattle thin to summation crushed successful aboriginal ballot counts. And successful Washington’s vote-by-mail system, ballots request lone beryllium post-marked by Election Day, not received.

The mean versus near dynamic successful Seattle mirrored that successful different wide cities, with “back-to-basics” candidates who committedness instrumentality and bid facing disconnected against progressives who importune that caller approaches are needed to lick intractable problems. The Seattle positions are officially nonpartisan.

The 63-year-old Harrell, who grew up successful a redlined metropolis neighborhood, would beryllium Seattle’s archetypal Asian American and 2nd Black mayor. He has beardown backing from concern and existent property executives.

González, 44, the girl of migrant farmworkers, would beryllium the city’s archetypal Latina mayor. She’s been endorsed by service-worker unions arsenic good arsenic biology and urbanist groups.

González and different leftist candidates person said they privation to taxation ample corporations to supply wealth for affordable housing. They would extremity forcible removals of stateless encampments erstwhile determination isn’t capable structure oregon lodging for the residents; extremity single-family zoning that prevents the operation of affordable housing; and put successful alternatives to policing, prosecution and incarceration.

Harrell has said helium wants to bolster the constabulary force. The section is down hundreds of officers due to the fact that of retirements and resignations amid the speech of defunding, and Harrell has called for the hiring of much police, including immoderate unarmed officers, arsenic good arsenic the assignment of a cabinet-level presumption to code rising weapon unit successful the city.

Harrell has courted voters frustrated with disposable homelessness. He said helium would support parks wide of structure encampments portion besides expanding structure space.

Incumbent Mayor Jenny Durkan is not moving for re-election.

In the metropolis lawyer race, existent property and concern executives person plowed wealth into opposing Thomas-Kennedy, who during and aft the racial-justice protests of 2020 often tweeted vulgarly of her hatred for police.

Thomas-Kennedy is promising to halt prosecuting astir misdemeanors. Citing her acquisition arsenic a nationalist defender, she describes specified crimes arsenic being mostly crimes of poorness and says the metropolis can’t prosecute its mode retired of the problem. Critics accidental her predetermination would marque it adjacent much hard to prosecute and clasp officers and it would nonstop a connection to criminals that they tin get distant with stealing.

Davison has her ain baggage successful deep-blue Seattle: She announced successful 2020 that she was leaving the Democratic Party and moving for lieutenant politician arsenic a Republican. She has stressed that she is “not a partisan” — and that she voted for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden for president, not Donald Trump.

In caller years, Davison has advocated for sweeping stateless encampments and moving residents into alleviation shelters acceptable up successful warehouses, and she has opposed safe-injection sites and a sex-education law.

Davison’s critics person questioned whether she would enthusiastically support left-leaning laws adopted by the council, including renter protections and progressive taxation.

Police issues were precocious connected voters’ minds.

Virginia Newman, who dropped disconnected her ballot connected Tuesday, said she was acrophobic astir instrumentality enforcement successful Seattle, citing “the nationalist outrage past twelvemonth and what’s happening successful our metropolis successful presumption of keeping those who don’t person entree to harmless spaces who are marginalized and oppressed and however we constabulary them unjustly successful a metropolis that considers itself truthful progressive.”

James Vert, different Seattle voter, said the defunding question was wrong.

“I mean, our constabulary volition support america safe,” Vert said. “And past we privation to defund them. And past wherever does that permission america present with the occupation we got? Look astatine the transgression rates successful Seattle close now.”

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Associated Press videographer Manuel Valdes contributed.

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