The Wilson campaign held its Election Night event at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill (Image: CHS)
Mayoral challenger Katie Wilson claimed the lion’s share Friday as more than 56,000 Seattle ballots from mostly later-voters were counted.
Another day like this in Monday’s count will turn the city’s mayor’s race upside down.
Mayor Bruce Harrell now holds only a dwindling 1.9-point lead in the race. On Election Night, the centrist incumbent who campaigned on his long experience serving the city and support from national Democratic leaders led by seven percentage points.
The campaign for Wilson, the progressive organizer and leader at the Transit Riders Union who has helped lead minimum wage and renter rights campaigns around the region, has expressed confidence that later ballots would swing their way.
CHS reported on Day Three of the counting on the precedent set in past elections including D3 rep Kshama Sawant who went from more than eight percentage points down on Election Night to a solid 4.13-percentage point win in her re-election battle in 2019.
Following warnings of possible mail delays due to new USPS policies, the county is dealing with what appears to be an unprecedented level of ballots from its drop boxes. According to King County Elections, about 69% of the 2025 General Election ballots from the city’s voters were dropped in a box — not mailed — leaving officials to deal with more than 190,000 drop-box ballots. In the 2021 election the last time the Seattle mayor’s office was up for grabs, the county reported 59% of the ballots were collected from drop boxes.
Friday also brought a victory in another important election battle. In the race to replace Dow Constantine as King County Executive, Girmay Zahilay will become “the first millennial, immigrant, or refugee” to hold the position after Eastside King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci conceded headed into the weekend. Zahilay has represented Capitol Hill, the Central District, and nearby neighborhoods from the University District to Skyway on the King County Council since 2020. He is the brother-in-law of District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth.
For the Seattle mayor’s race, meanwhile, King County Elections reports around another 57,000 ballots left to count.
Officials said the next update would come Monday.
CHS asked elections officials about the county’s process of releasing vote counts piecemeal following Election Night instead of waiting until more significant and definitive totals have been counted. For now, don’t expect changes anytime soon.
“First, it’s what our voters and jurisdictions expect,” a spokesperson tells CHS. We’ll have more from the county about the reporting process soon.
The incumbent strikes back: Harrell leads on Election Night as Wilson’s hope lies in later voters
Election 2025 — Day 2: Harrell lead solidifies as Wilson’s math becomes clear
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Bruce or Katie, those were our options? Bruce governs by grievance and Katie’s resume would fit on a communion wafer.
Jesus, five Canadians on horseback could take this town.
Mudhoney was right. Seattle will suck you dry.
The Seattle Times reported this afternoon (Friday 11/7 just before 4pm) only about 45K votes left to count. That’s a big difference from your number, 57K. Any idea why the discrepancy?
ST: “King County Elections estimates there are around 45,000 remaining Seattle ballots. Many of those will be counted Monday, with the full tally stretching further into next week.”
Our numbers are based on comparisons of the ballots tallied so far vs. the ballot return statistics reported by the county