(Image: Bruce for Seattle)
In 2021, when he won his race for the Seattle mayor’s office, CHS focused on Bruce Harrell’s Central District story as the political veteran rose from Garfield High School to City Hall. Four years later, Harrell is in the fight of his political life and the focus has shifted.
Coming out of a soft showing in the August primary, the best news Seattle’s incumbent mayor has received came from “Mayor Pete” as Democratic national leader Pete Buttigieg blessed the Harrell campaign with an endorsement. Harrell is not alone in his campaign struggles as Seattle’s incumbents have been up against a wave of support for progressive first-time candidates. But the mayor — who likes his sports metaphors and stories about past athletic feats — is sticking to his game plan with a campaign that mirrors his administration. HIs 2026 budget plan echoes with his platform: spending on police and public safety, preserving but not growing existing spending on affordability and social services, and cautiously pursuing new tax revenue by centering the increases on the largest companies operating in the city. Will Team Harrell win? Along the way, Mayor Bruce is taking hits from all sides. You can read more about his platform at bruceforseattle.com.
Below, CHS talks with Harrell about his case for re-election, what went wrong with leadership on the county crisis care center, who is “progressive” in this race, and what comes after “One Seattle.”
You can read the CHS interview with Harrell’s opponent here: The mayor of Capitol Hill: Why you should vote for Katie Wilson*
CHS: During your first run for mayor, CHS focused a lot on your roots in the Central District. Do you still feel at home there?
Harrell: Sure. First of all, you do some really good work, and I think you’re good at what you do. So let me answer your question directly. I literally go back to visit friends who still live in the Central District, right off 24th and Olive. I literally just left the Central Area Senior Center. And there are the people who lived across the street from me, and a lot of them still live in the Central District. But you know, as do I, that it has gotten somewhat gentrified, and a lot of people have been priced out. So it’s bittersweet for me. It’s sweet to see people who are still there that I grew up with. My old house on 24th and Olive is still there, and it’s basically still the same shell. So I have friends. It’s bitter in the sense that house now, that my mom and dad bought for $6,000 and sold for $30,000, is now a $1 million house.
It was interesting that last week, as I was walking the streets in the Central District, a person came up to me. They were white, just to be candid with you, and they asked me what I was doing there. That was pretty offensive, given the fact that my grandparents, my Japanese grandparents, grew up in the Central District, and I grew up there. They asked me what I was doing there.
CHS: Wow. Continue reading
