Joy Hollingsworth has the mayor and, by 89 votes, the highest ballot tally in the primary on her side. Alex Hudson is stepping forward with support from three of her competitors.
With Hollingsworth and Hudson emerging from August’s top two primary election as the candidates moving forward to vie for the District 3 seat on the Seattle City Council in November, Hudson’s campaign announced this week that three of the challengers in the primary have formally endorsed her run.
The Hudson camp says her “progressive primary election rivals” Efrain Hudnell, Alex Cooley, and Ry Armstrong are “enthusiastically backing accomplished progressive Hudson in the general election.”
“My decision to endorse is simple,” Armstrong, who campaigned as a climate and Democratic Socialists of America candidate, said in the campaign’s statement. “We have six years left to change our trajectory toward a climate change extinction and the investments we can make next year in the Move Seattle Transit levy requires bold commitments to expanding beyond our current sustainability investments. I believe Alex Hudson will do that and more,”
Central District neighborhood organizer Alex Cooley said he believes Hudson “will lead our council and city to a progressive future.”
CHS reported here on the strong Election Night results for Hollingsworth, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s pick in the eight-way District 3 race and a Central District resident with deep connections to the neighborhood and the city’s Black communities.
Hudson, meanwhile, also had a solid Election Night first tally and showed late voter strength reminiscent of the support for outgoing D3 leader Kshama Sawant.
That strength wasn’t enough to overcome Hollingsworth who finished with the top count in the primary.
The turnout of around 36% in the district was down significantly from the hotly contested 2019 battle.
While it is tempting to add the votes from the rival campaigns that are now endorsing her, predicting Hudson’s strength now that the District 3 race is a two-person contest probably isn’t that simple.
Hollingsworth has championed middle of the road progressive positions on housing, homelessness, and public safety and a tendency toward accessible takes and straightforward answers and solutions that veer toward a more centrist approach to the council. She has said she would support Harrell’s plan for increased spending on SPD staffing while calling for more accountability at the department. She has also been endorsed by the Seattle Times.
Hudson, meanwhile, has taken positions that veer from her centrist challenger. Hudson is the D3 Stranger candidate after winning the former alt-weekly’s endorsement with positions mostly slightly to the left of the Hollingsworth camp. Hudson has spent her campaign time solidifying her position as a wonk with first-hand experience shaping legislation and the political process around it. Her experience leading groups like the First Hill Improvement Association and Transportation Choices Coalition plus advocacy for public transit and “upzones everywhere across the city” has set her apart from Hollingsworth who has also called for the development of more housing in the city but in more moderate forms like ADUs that are, she says, less likely to lead to displacement. But Hudson has also aimed for a more center-focused appeal on many issues including criticizing the council’s past actions to pursue 50% cuts to the Seattle Police Department as a political mistake. Hudson says, instead, she would support moving more spending to community policing while increasing the number of officers available for patrol and neighborhood beats.
The General Election deadline for ballots is November 7th.
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Progressives, the same people who promoted Defunding Police, and who don’t see a drug addiction problem to homelessness, and are all in on “housing first.”
We should have a clear choice for D3. More of this, or more support for Mayor Harrell.
Hudson said she supported defund. now she’s critical of it? lol
jseattle, usually your research and knowledge is better. Have you noted who Bobby Goodwin is supporting. He did come in third and is supporting Joy.. I saw this post on Joy’s Nextdoor page.
From Joy:
Had a long conversation with someone I’ve grown to admire over the last year and his perspective. I’m grateful to have his support and endorsement heading into the general election. Thank you Bobby!
From Bobby Goodwin: “A few of you have asked who I intend to vote for (or endorse) for the general, and let me say first that I am grateful for your expression of confidence and trust – I do not take that for granted. Know that I did not feel a need to choose one or the other -to endorse a lesser of two evils, this decision was an easy one, I am endorsing Joy Hollingsworth to be our next City Councilperson!! Over the course of the last 5 months, I got to know the other 7 candidates as we fought for votes. We were at times forced to take difficult positions on complex issues which we were unprepared for. Sometimes our intuition was good, and sometimes it wasn’t. I watched as some candidates became ideologically entrenched for fear of being labeled flip-floppers. And yet what I saw in Joy was humility and open-mindedness. Case in point, despite initially having expressed a reluctance to support the prosecution of public drug consumption, Joy came around to recognizing the need for urgent interventions for folks struggling with meth and fentanyl. Also, for many of us, when we think of the world of politics, we think of The House of Cards. We imagine backstabbing, two-faced charlatans who are willing to say anything to get a vote. A likable politician? It sounds like a contradiction in terms. But, I can say with absolute candor, having met and got to know Joy, that she is genuinely kind, and authentic. Our Council needs a lot of things, but above all else, it needs more people with integrity and humility, and that is why I am supporting Joy Hollingsworth for Seattle City Council here in District 3!!!”
Joy Hollingsworth supports prosecution of public drug consumption? Or at least recognizing that public drug consumption is a problem? She’s got my vote
And he had as many votes as the three candidates that endorsed Hudson combined! Minor details.
Not sure what there is to be corrected. Story is about the three “progressive” candidates endorsing Hudson. Goodwin’s endorsement is a separate issue and we will include an update. But no “correction” here.
ah..I felt that you implied that Alex had the support of all rivals. True; you did not say “all.” Perhaps you intend to support Alex, not just report on the candidates the rivals are supporting.If your purpose is to support Alex and her news then the article requires no correction. It depends on the purpose.
As much as I appreciate your journalism and hard work, Corrections or reviews may be in order, as a majority of the community comments seem to make noteworthy mention: Goodwin’s endorsement and message are just as relevant and probably more significant than any others at this point.
A heartfelt endorsement for sure, but Bobby—watch that syntax! I don’t think you wanted to call Hollingsworth the lesser of two evils, but that’s what’s happening here: “Know that I did not feel a need to choose one or the other -to endorse a lesser of two evils, this decision was an easy one, I am endorsing Joy Hollingsworth to be our next City Councilperson!!”
Hollingsworth was a lot better when I watched her on the Bourdain CNN show. I liked her during her first rally too. Then she got too chummy with this awful Republican-in-sheep’s clothing mayor Harrell.
Only in Seattle is an African American, queer woman and marijuana entrepreneur that was born and raised in the neighborhood and works to feed the poor considered the conservative, corporate choice! Have we lost our minds? Haha. I think we need to collectively look at the results (or consequences) of our city’s lurch to the left over the last decade and ask ourselves how far left is too far left? We have one of the most progressive city councils and reform-minded progressive criminal justice systems in the country. If we are on the right track, then why does Seattle become more dystopian by the day? Why are drug overdose deaths rates increasing faster than anywhere else despite our focus on “harm reduction”? Why do we have the most homeless encampments per capita despite spending more than most places? Something doesn’t add up. It is time for new leadership and a change of direction.
Where is she labeled conservative? I see “less progressive” and “centrist” but not the labels you use. Have you lost your mind or are you reading something else?
And what do we mean by leaning left or right these days? Are developer interests really representative of whatever we define as left? What is “right” winged in this city. In this city what does “Do the Right Thing” mean? Renters aren’t all poor, nor are they all rich. Whose trees are we going to down? Who wants to live in the heat zone? How do we attract families to Seattle and ensure desirable public schools.
So, the far-left candidate Ry Armstrong (basically a Sawant wannabe) endorses Hudson, and the centrist Bobby Goodwin (who recognizes the drug disaster on our streets and would do something about it) endorses Joy Hollingsworth. Based on this, the clear choice at this point (for me anyway) is…..Joy! We’ll see how the campaign shakes out.
36% turnout for a primary in which the ballots are literally sent to our houses, postage paid. I guess doing the bare minimum to participate in the political future of our district was just too much of a time commitment for most people in D3. Fucking disgraceful.