With reporting by Hannah Saunders

Seattle’s political 2025 season is shaped as a battle of incumbents vs. upstart challengers with divides along the center-leaning leaders who currently hold the offices — and want to stay — and candidates who say they will bring a more progressive vision to City Hall.

This week’s 43rd District Democrats endorsement meeting for the upcoming August primary was a showcase for these challenging progressives.

“We must do better to protect Seattle communities from attacks against the Trump administration,” mayoral candidate Katie Wilson told the endorsement meeting crowd Tuesday night, criticizing incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell’s middle-of-the-road approach to housing, social services, and civil rights.

The progressive organizer who has worked with organizations like the Transit Riders Union, and helped lead minimum wage and renter rights campaigns around the region secured the 43rd’s endorsement with a strong 89 votes (82.4%) out of 108 ballots cast, triumphing over incumbent Harrell and candidates Ry Armstrong, Joe Molloy, and Joe Mallahan with her commitment to “Trump-proofing” Seattle with a multifaceted approach including addressing homelessness, affordable housing, and transportation.

Wilson underscored her coalition-building experience, citing her involvement in the Human Services Bus Ticket Program and the Seattle Youth ORCA Program, as well as her role in raising the minimum wage in Tukwila, Burien, and unincorporated King County. She also made a sly jab at Harrell, suggesting Seattle deserves mayors who lead with integrity rather than becoming embroiled in scandals. Wilson stressed the need for change, noting, “More people are sleeping unsheltered on our streets than ever before. Working families are struggling to stay afloat. We can do so much better.”

The 43rd’s choices in the Seattle City Council races also flowed into the progressive lane.

An incumbent was the group’s favorite in citywide Position 8, current office holder Alexis Mercedes Rinck secured the 43rd’s sole endorsement with an overwhelming 99 votes (97.1%) out of 102 cast.

For the other citywide Position 9 and the expected hard battle with incumbent Council President Sara Nelson, Dionne Foster received a commanding 90 votes (87.4%) out of 103 ballots, earning her the sole endorsement.

Foster, a mom, nonprofit executive, and former community organizer and policy advisor, is running against incumbent Nelson and economist Connor Nash.

Nelson was absent from the meeting, while Nash emphasized community distrust in the current city council. Foster highlighted her track record, stating, “I am really proud that I have spent my career fighting. I have fought for equity. I have fought for opportunity, and I have fought and delivered real outcomes. We deserve a Seattle that is going to be affordable for all of us. We deserve a city where we can afford to raise our families. We deserve safe streets where our kids can go out and play—and so much more.”

Foster also articulated her vision for growth. “For me, we’re at a place where we have a tremendous opportunity to plan and deliver on growth in a way that can be great for our housing, so that we can have housing that is affordable and also housing that is abundant,” said.

“The voice that I want to bring is, like, we’re trying to create a Seattle that works for everyone.”

A progressive upstart also got the 43rd’s nod in the City Attorney race where three candidates vied for support. Erika Evans emerged victorious, securing the endorsement with 70 votes (61.4%) out of 114 ballots cast, comfortably surpassing the required 60% threshold.

Evans, a former federal prosecutor, spoke about her personal experiences with poverty and how strong union jobs helped her family. She emphasized her commitment to public service throughout her career. “I’m proud to be the only person in this race that’s only worked with public service my entire career,” Evans stated. “Most recently, I’ve served as a civil rights prosecutor where I held hate groups and bad officers accountable at a federal level that violated our civil rights, and I left that role because I could not stand by and just be one of Trump’s orders.” If she wins, Evans would be the first elected Person of Color in the role.

Evans will face a battle with incumbent City Attorney Ann Davison and her emphasis on increased focus on drug and street crime in the city.

The 43rd Dems also added their support to other less followed — and likely less contentious — races including throwing their support in the King County Executive race behind current King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay who has been a clear early favorite since incumbent Dow Constantine opted to move on from the office.

Other endorsements included the Port of Seattle Commissioner races where a slate was unanimously passed (86 Yes, 3 No) endorsing uncontested candidates Ryan Calkins (Position 1), Hamdi Mohamed (Position 3), and Toshiko Hasegawa (Position 5).

For the Seattle School Board, Joe Mizrahi received the endorsement for District 4 with 68 votes (71.6%) out of 95 ballots, introduced by Rep. Nicole Macri, who praised his understanding of schools, parents’ needs, and budget issues. No candidate reached the threshold for endorsement in Seattle School Board District 5 on the first ballot or upon reconsideration, resulting in no endorsement for that race. For Seattle School Board District 7, Jen LaVallee was endorsed with 42 votes (66.7%) out of 63 ballots.

In addition to candidate endorsements, the nearly 200 43rd Democrats members present also endorsed funding for the city’s Democracy Voucher program. Seattle voters will decide on a proposed $45 million renewal of the voucher program in August’s primary.

The 43rd District Dems also weighed in on the county’s plan to open a Capitol Hill mental health crisis center at Broadway and Madison, passing a resolution to support the planned facility. CHS reported on the county’s plans for the Capitol Hill Crisis Care Center in May.

The August primary will take place August 5th. The top two candidates in each race will go through to the November General Election. Ballots for the by-mail primary will be sent out in July.

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