Just months ago, it seemed Mayor Bruce Harrell was on the glide path to reelection — something no Seattle mayor has managed since Greg Nickels won a second term in 2005.
Longtime progressive organizer Katie Wilson entered the race in March and quickly emerged as the frontrunner among Harrell’s challengers. But Harrell has been backed by some key organizations that typically support and donate to progressive candidates, including MLK Labor and the service workers’ union SEIU 775.
Nonetheless, a recent poll of Seattle voters conducted by the Northwest Progressive Institute found Harrell and Wilson neck and neck heading into the August 5 primary with 33% and 31% support, respectively. Former T-Mobile executive and 2009 mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan got 3% in the poll, with the other six candidates getting statistically no support. Another 27% of poll respondents said they were undecided…