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2021 Seattle mayoral election

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2021 Seattle mayoral election
← 2017 November 2, 2021 2025 →
Turnout54.57%[1]
 
Candidate Bruce Harrell Lorena González
Popular vote 155,294 109,132
Percentage 58.6% 41.2%
Harrell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
González:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tie:      40–50%      50%
Mayor before election

Jenny Durkan
Democratic

Elected mayor

Bruce Harrell
Democratic

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The 2021 Seattle mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the Mayor of Seattle. It was won by former Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell, who defeated then-current President Lorena González; both candidates had advanced from a nonpartisan primary election on August 3.[2]

Incumbent mayor Jenny Durkan initially sought reelection to a second term in office in February 2020, but withdrew that December due to backlash from her handling of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in Seattle as well as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest during the George Floyd protests.[3]

Harrell held a 24-point lead over González when she conceded on November 4; his margin of victory was the largest of a non-incumbent candidate in a Seattle mayoral race since the 1969 election of Wesley C. Uhlman.[2][4] Harrell took over as mayor on January 1, 2022, having previously held the position as acting mayor for five days in September 2017 upon the resignation of Ed Murray; due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, he was sworn in privately the prior week and held a small inauguration ceremony on January 4.[5][6]

The 2021 election was the first in which mayoral candidates were eligible to use Seattle's democracy vouchers program,[7] which has captured the interest of other cities.[8]

Primary election

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Candidates

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Declared

[edit]

Withdrew

[edit]

Declined

[edit]

Endorsements

[edit]
Colleen Echohawk
Mayors
Seattle city councilmembers
Andrew Grant Houston
Organizations
Jessyn Farrell
Statewide officeholders
State legislators
Seattle city councilmembers
Lorena Gonzalez
Federal officeholders
State senators
State Representatives
Seattle city councilmembers
Individuals
Organizations
Media
Bruce Harrell
Federal officeholders
State legislators
Seattle city councilmembers
Mayors
Organizations
Media
Casey Sixkiller
Federal officeholders
Declined to endorse

Polling

[edit]
Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Colleen
Echohawk 		Jessyn
Farrell 		Lorena
González 		Bruce
Harrell 		Andrew Grant
Houston 		Casey
Sixkiller 		Other Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] July 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.3% 10% 6% 12% 20% 6% 4% 9%[c] 32%
Washington Research Group (D)[B] July 13–14, 2021 524 (LV) ± 4.3% 5% 4% 8% 17% 4% 3% 5%[d] 55%
ALG Research (D)[C] May 10–16, 2021 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 7% 7% 11% 23% 3% 5% 3% 41%
GQR Research (D)[D] March 23–28, 2021 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 9% 6% 19% 20% – – 8% 38%

Forum

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2021 Seattle mayoral candidate forum
No. Date Host Moderator Link Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
Colleen Echohawk Lorena González Bruce Harrell Arthur Langlie Lance Randall Casey Sixkiller
1 Jun. 29, 2021 Downtown Seattle
Association 		Chris Daniels
Essex Porter 		YouTube P P P P P P

Results

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By August 6, Echohawk, Farrell, and Houston had all conceded, and Harrell and González were viewed as the winners of the primary.[35][36]

Nonpartisan primary results[37][38]
Candidate Votes %
Bruce Harrell 69,612 34.00
Lorena González 65,750 32.11
Colleen Echohawk 21,042 10.28
Jessyn Farrell 14,931 7.29
Arthur Langlie 11,372 5.55
Casey Sixkiller 6,918 3.38
Andrew Grant Houston 5,485 2.68
James Donaldson 3,219 1.57
Lance Randall 2,804 1.37
Clinton Bliss 1,618 0.79
Omari Tahir-Garrett 391 0.19
Bobby Tucker 377 0.18
Henry Dennison 347 0.17
Stan Lippmann 323 0.16
Don Rivers 189 0.09
Write-in 386 0.19
Total votes 206,814 100.00

General election

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Candidates

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Endorsements

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Endorsements in bold were made after the primary election.

Lorena Gonzalez
Federal officeholders
State senators
State Representatives
Mayors
Seattle city councilmembers
Individuals
Organizations
Media
Bruce Harrell
Federal officeholders
State legislators
Seattle city councilmembers
Mayors
Organizations
Media

Polling

[edit]
Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Lorena
González 		Bruce
Harrell 		Other Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] October 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.1% 32% 48% 2%[e] 18%
Strategies 360 (D) September 13–16, 2021 450 (RV) ± 4.6% 33% 40% – 27%
287 (LV) ± 5.8% 37% 48% – 15%
GQR Research (D)[D] September 11–14, 2021 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 45% 45% – 10%
Elway Research September 7–9, 2021 400 (LV) ± 5.0% 27% 42% 7% 24%

Debates

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2021 Seattle mayoral debates
No. Date Host Moderator Link Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
Lorena González Bruce Harrell
1 Oct. 14, 2021 KCTS9
TVW
Washington State
Debate Coalition 		Mary Nam YouTube P P
2 Oct. 28, 2021 KCTS9
TVW
Washington State
Debate Coalition 		Essex Porter YouTube P P

Results

[edit]
General election results[1]
Candidate Votes %
Bruce Harrell 155,294 58.56
Lorena González 109,132 41.15
Write-in 777 0.29
Total votes 265,203 100.00

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Some district(s) also include precincts outside of Seattle.
  2. ^ a b Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  3. ^ Art Langlie with 4%; Lance Randall with 3%; James Donaldson and Bobby Tucker with 1%; Omari Tahir-Garrett, Clinton Bliss, Henry C. Dennison, Stan Lippmann, and Don L. Rivers with 0%
  4. ^ Art Langlie with 3%; Lance Randall with 2%
  5. ^ "Would not vote" with 2%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ a b This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute
  2. ^ This poll was conducted by Seattle-based Democratic political consultants John Wyble and Bill Broadhead, who support Colleen Echohawk for mayor
  3. ^ This poll was sponsored by Farrell's campaign
  4. ^ a b This poll was sponsored by González's campaign

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Election Results – November 02, 2021" (PDF). King County Elections. November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Beekman, Daniel (November 4, 2021). "Bruce Harrell has won race for Seattle mayor, defeating M. Lorena González, as vote count continues". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Beekman, Daniel; Brunner, Jim (December 7, 2020). "Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan won't run for reelection". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  4. ^ "General and Special Elections". Seattle Municipal Archives. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Gutman, David (March 16, 2021). "Bruce Harrell, former Seattle City Council president, is running for mayor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Taylor, Sarah Grace (December 30, 2021). "Citing spike in COVID cases, Seattle Mayor-elect Bruce Harrell to forgo public inauguration". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Beekman, Daniel (September 6, 2021). "Seattle candidates again vie for 'democracy vouchers' as they pivot to November election". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  8. ^ Kliff, Sarah (November 5, 2018). "Seattle's radical plan to fight big money in politics". Vox. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Cassidy, Benjamin (July 29, 2021). "Who's Running for Mayor in Seattle?". Seattle Met. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  10. ^ Kroman, David (January 25, 2021). "Colleen Echohawk joins race for Seattle mayor". Crosscut. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Golden, Hallie (February 3, 2021). "Colleen Echohawk aims to be Seattle's first indigenous mayor: 'We have to find ways to change'". The Guardian. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  12. ^ Gutman, David (March 18, 2021). "Jessyn Farrell, former state representative, announces run for Seattle mayor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  13. ^ Gutman, David (February 3, 2021). "Seattle City Council President M. Lorena González is running for mayor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  14. ^ Dubicki, Ray (January 22, 2021). "Andrew Grant Houston is Running for Mayor of Seattle on a Bold Urbanist Platform". The Urbanist. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  15. ^ Brunner, Jim (May 11, 2021). "Art Langlie, grandson of former Seattle mayor and governor, announces mayoral run". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  16. ^ Beekman, Daniel (May 4, 2021). "Casey Sixkiller, a Seattle deputy mayor, launches bid for mayor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  17. ^ Beekman, Daniel (February 7, 2020). "Seattle Mayor Durkan launches bid for reelection". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  18. ^ a b c Beekman, Daniel; Gutman, David (December 9, 2020). "Jenny Durkan won't run for reelection. What's it take to become Seattle mayor – and how might that be changing?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Graham, Nathalie (December 7, 2020). "Durkan Won't Run for Mayor in 2021". The Stranger. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  20. ^ Kroman, David (January 6, 2021). "Teresa Mosqueda will seek reelection, not Seattle mayor's office". Crosscut. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  21. ^ Santos, Melissa (April 27, 2021). "Joe Nguyen challenging Dow Constantine for King County executive". Crosscut. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  22. ^ Gutman, David (March 10, 2021). "Nikkita Oliver announces run for Seattle City Council, lays out vision for big changes". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an "Endorsements roll in for Seattle mayoral, council races". July 15, 2021.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag "Mayoral election in Seattle, Washington (2021)".
  25. ^ Smith, Rich. "Jessyn Farrell Is Running for Mayor". The Stranger. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  26. ^ a b c d Gutman, David (April 1, 2021). "Rep. Pramila Jayapal endorses Lorena González for Seattle mayor". The Seattle Times.
  27. ^ a b "Former Council President Bruce Harrell leading Seattle's mayoral primary race". August 4, 2021.
  28. ^ "Seattle mayoral candidates González, Harrell to face off in debate focused on public health and safety". The Seattle Times. October 28, 2021. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has endorsed González as has another progressive East Coast senator, Bernie Sanders.
  29. ^ a b Rayes, Nathalie (March 30, 2021). "Latino Victory Fund Endorses Lorena González in Historic Bid for Seattle Mayor". Latino Victory.
  30. ^ "Our Candidates".
  31. ^ a b Wilson, Reid (July 30, 2021). "Angst grips America's most liberal city". The Hill. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  32. ^ a b "Harrell, González lead in low-turnout Seattle mayoral primary". August 5, 2021.
  33. ^ a b "The Times recommends: Bruce Harrell for Seattle mayor". The Seattle Times. July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  34. ^ "Seattle businesses and politicians are at odds. The new Chamber CEO is calling a truce". April 10, 2021.
  35. ^ "First candidates concede as November showdown for Seattle mayor takes shape". August 5, 2021.
  36. ^ "Bruce Harrell, M. Lorena González eye November race after dominating Seattle's mayoral primary". August 8, 2021.
  37. ^ "August 3, 2021 Primary".
  38. ^ "King County August 3, 2021 Primary".
  39. ^ "Who supports who in Seattle's mayoral election?: This week in politics". August 20, 2021.
  40. ^ "Major Public Employees Union Endorses Bruce Harrell for Seattle Mayor". August 12, 2021.
  41. ^ "Firefighters, Democratic Party groups make picks in Seattle mayoral race as PACs rake in cash". September 28, 2021.
[edit]
Official campaign websites
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