Top 2021 Candidates for Seattle Mayor
With the August 3 primary rapidly approaching, candidates are in the final stretch in hopes of securing a spot on the general election ballot. To take a deeper dive, see this link to the Seattle Times article, “Meet the Candidates,” and this link for a fundraising update.
Here are brief profiles of the top candidates:
Lorena Gonzalez is the President of the Seattle City Council. Before winning a city-wide seat in 2015, Lorena Gonzalez practiced law in Seattle, including serving as Counsel to Mayor Ed Murray. Gonzalez was born in Yakima and, as a member of a migrant farmworker family, began working in the cherry orchards at the age of 8.
On the Council, she has been a champion of worker rights. Endorsed by the Chamber in 2015 and 2019, she rarely sides with the business community, but she does have a reputation for being accessible and willing to hear our concerns. Virtually every labor organization has endorsed her candidacy, an enormous boost as they (unlike the business community) are free to spend unlimited funds to get her elected. Gonzalez would be Seattle’s first LatinX mayor. See these links for a recent Seattle Times profile and endorsement by The Stranger.
Bruce Harrell served on the Seattle City Council from 2008 to 2020 and as interim Mayor for three days in 2017. A well-known for his skill on the football field during his time at the University of Washington, Harrell practiced law before entering politics.
On the Council, Harrell was viewed as a business-friendly moderate (at least by Seattle standards) but not a strong advocate. At this point, he has collected the most support from the business community, and he is fourth in fundraising with $264,000 raised. Here is a Seattle Times profile and endorsement.
Colleen Echohawk was the Executive Director of the Chief Seattle Club before becoming the first candidate to announce for mayor. If elected, Echohawk would be the nation’s first Native American big-city mayor.
Although she is new to elective politics, Echohawk has raised over $400,000, leading all other candidates. Addressing homelessness – and the city’s ineffective response to it – is the centerpiece of her campaign. Here is the link to a Seattle Times profile.
The second tier of candidates (based on fundraising and name recognition) are:
Former state Representative Jessyn Farrell finished fourth in the 2017 race for Mayor. She is 5th in fundraising with just over $100,000 raised.
Architect and environmental activist Andrew Grant Houston is a first-time candidate and, surprisingly, the second leading fundraiser in the field, having raised over $320,000.
Deputy Mayor Casey Sixkiller, a former legislative staffer to U.S. Senator Patty Murray, was the last candidate to enter the race and has raised just over $33,000.
