(The Center Square) – The first to challenge Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in the 2025 election is Katie Wilson, a leading progressive organizer in favor of taxing corporations as part of funding solutions to the city’s top problems.
Wilson decided to run for Seattle mayor after the recent special election that saw 70% of votes in favor of a 5% tax on annual compensation above $1 million paid in Seattle to any employee. Money generated from the tax is dedicated to social housing in the city.
Voters chose the citizen-led measure over the Seattle City Council-created alternative measure that would have allocated about $10 million per year from the city’s JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax to go to social housing.
Harrell ran as a more centrist candidate during the 2021 mayoral race when the city council skewed further left on the political spectrum than currently. He won by the largest margin for a non-incumbent candidate since 1969.
Wilson said the recent election results point to the belief that Seattle residents may have seen a lack of delivery on the city’s top concerns over the last four years, signaling a need for change of city leadership.
If Wilson is elected as the next Seattle mayor, she would explore more progressive taxes for the city because of an approaching “perfect storm.” This storm entails and structural budget shortfall that predates the COVID-19 pandemic, looming impacts of the President Donald Trump administration, and a possible economic recession.
“We have this perfect storm of factors, which are likely to give us a really tough budget environment to maintain the services that we have, let alone to expand the things that we need to be able to expand,” Wilson said in a phone call with The Center Square.
Wilson said she would not want to implement new taxes that increase the burden on working-class residents.
Wilson is considering a local capital gains tax, which Seattle city council members have proposed in the past. The Center Square previously reported that approximately 816 Seattle residents would have been subjected to the tax and would have seen a 6.5% to 9% increase in tax burden.
Other city-level taxes Wilson is exploring include a vacancy tax on unoccupied commercial and residential properties, professional services excise tax, and digital advertisement tax. She noted that there could be significant challenges to implement these taxes on a city level.
Wilson would also consider turning the dials on the city’s JumpStart Payroll Tax in order to raise new revenue.
Some of the top concerns of Seattle residents include homelessness and public safety, both of which Wilson detailed her plans to address with The Center Square.
With homelessness in the Seattle-King County region at an all-time high, Wilson said she would prioritize opening more emergency shelters for unhoused people. Wilson would also explore a more targeted approach to the city’s homeless population that is more difficult to serve, which would involve closer coordination with law enforcement.
If Wilson is elected, she said the King County Regional Homelessness Authority would still be a close partner with the city to help tackle the issue. She does not think dismantling the agency is a good way forward for the city in reducing homelessness.
“I don’t really see another realistic option right now; if I didn’t feel hopeful about the direction that the KCRHA has now been going, then that might have to be on the table, but the fact is that I think the new leadership there is going to really turn things around,” Wilson said.
As for public safety in Seattle, Wilson said the current police contract limits changes to how law enforcement is conducted, but said she would expand the Seattle CARE Department, which works to resolve low-risk calls for behavioral health matters and free up policing services for more serious calls.
Wilson is currently the lone candidate to compete with Harrell. Voters will decide whether to re-elect Harrell or choose a new mayor during the Nov. 4 general election.
