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Let's get ready to crumble!!!! ...under the crushing weight of democracy's corpse. JK, JK. It's not all bad. It's Primary Election Night, babies, and the future actually looks bright-ish! Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson is giving Mayor Bruce Harrell a run for his money (literally), and Dionne Foster is neck-and-neck with conservative City Council President Sara Nelson. There is hope!
While it's impossible to know what will shake out once all the ballots are counted, we're going to do our best—tonight, members of the Stranger Election Control Board are charging into the city to pop into election parties all over town. We're going to sneak snacks, eavesdrop, and see how candidates react to the first wave of tonight’s results, so stay tuned to this liveblog to follow along!
Speaking of results, the first batch should drop tonight shortly after 8 p.m. Which means... you still have time to vote!
Is your ballot still sitting in the pile of old mail, unopened and ignored? Just fill it out (here’s our cheat sheet), and drop it in a ballot box by 8 p.m.!
If you never received a ballot, lost your ballot, or forgot to register before the ballots were mailed, you can vote in person at one of King County's election sites, which, in Seattle, is at the Lumen Field Events Center. Also open until 8 p.m.
As of 4 p.m., 22 percent of registered voters in King County have returned their ballots. Don’t be another statistic. VOTE! See you later tonight for fun, mischief, and maybe some crying.
All photos by the Stranger Election Control Board unless otherwise noted.
"Are We Really at 46 Percent?"
8:30 p.m.
When Wilson got onstage, she admitted that she'd written her speech assuming that Harrell would be ahead—she planned on reminding voters that progressive voters always cast their ballots last, and the numbers will go up from here. Instead, it just rubbed a little salt in the wound we assume Harrell is nursing. She promised the best ground game the city's ever seen in the next 13 weeks. We can't wait.
Zahilay Says He's Ready to Take on Trump
8:28 p.m.
Claiming victory in the King County Executive race, Girmay Zahilay didn’t take long to address the threat posed by the Trump regime: "At a time when the Trump agenda threatens our values, we need a County Executive who won’t just draft plans but will fight like hell to make them happen," Zahilay told his nearly 300 supporters.
In pole position to become King County’s first immigrant elected as County Executive, and leading Claudia Balducci by 10 points in the initial returns, Zahilay highlighted the broad coalition his campaign built during the election: "Tonight we celebrate a historic victory. Voters from every corner of King County have come together to back the broadest coalition our county has ever seen."
Victory Vibes
8:27 p.m.
Leading each of their races, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Dionne Foster, and Erika Evans each took a turn at the mic.
"Talk about a vote of confidence," says Rinck, who has been in office eight months. She delivered her speech like a WWE announcer. It worked for her.
"This is an affirmation that the work we're doing is what the people want."
Foster told the crowd the results were clear. Seattle is ready for new leadership. We can only wonder what City Council President Sara Nelson is saying right now. She only got 39 percent of the vote tonight. We'd ask, but her campaign did not get back to us about her plans tonight (moping?).
Evans says come November, she would take back the City Attorney's office for "workers, renters, our values, our people," all the reasons she says she became a lawyer.
Katie's Number One
8:17 p.m.
Someone screamed, "Katie's number one!" and the party exploded. Wilson brought in 46.2 percent of the first ballot drop, beating Harrell by almost two percentage points. This whole party knew that the divide between them is only going to get better from here. Young and progressive voters tend to vote late, which will be in her favor. Katie got onstage to make a speech, but first she asked everyone for a little patience. It was her 2-year-old daughter's second birthday, and she asked the crowd to sing for her first. Josie picked her nose the whole time.
Harrell, Down by Two Points, Says He's Ready for the Fight to Come
8:16 p.m.
“We knew this was going to be a tough race, but we know we will win because the data is on our side for what we’re trying to do,” Bruce Harrell said to the crowd. “The results are people really, really want to see change because there’s a lot of fear in our lives right now.”
He went on to say that now he needs to spend the next couple of months telling “our story.” But we, the crowd, know him, he said, and we know he welcomes a fight.
“These are tough, tough races,” Harrell said. “What we’ve gotta do is listen to what people want.”
Some optimists in the crowd kept saying, “Four more years.” I guess we shall see!
Progressive Women Whooping Ass at First Ballot Drop
8:15 p.m.
People jumped up and down as the emcee announced the ballot drop: Erika Evans at 51 percent, Alexis Mercedes Rinck at 75 percent, Dionne Foster at 53 percent. The three women walked down the stairs, hugging campaign workers, friends, and family.
"You can print it—I remember as an incumbent when it sucked to be at 44 percent on election night," said former city council member Andrew Lewis, who was standing behind us.
"We're back," he yelled. "Progressives are back."
The Results Are In
8:07 p.m.
The first batch of results just dropped, and Katie Wilson has 46.21 percent of the vote, with Harrell right behind her at 44.86.
Someone screamed, "Katie's number one!" at her party, and the room exploded with cheers.
More soon!
Stoup Brewing, Fix Your Wi-Fi
8:00 p.m.
With the ballot drop fast approaching, the party is hopping at the joint Alexis Mercedes Rinck/Erika Evans/Dionne Foster party at Stoup Brewing (the carcass of Optimism Brewing, RIP) in Capitol Hill. We're not sure what song is playing, but the bass reverberates. The heat is unbearable. The wi-fi barely works. On an upstairs balcony, Evans scribbles on a sheet of paper. Rinck peers over the balcony between heavy curtains. Oops. This is a candidate-only area. Time to leave.
Belvedere-Fueled Solidarity and Club Vibes at Zahilay Primary Party
7:53 p.m
Even before King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson peaced out of the race over a tiny hiccup known as alleged serial stalking, the contest for the first newly elected King County Executive since the Obama administration had already effectively narrowed to two: Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay. Both are current King County Council members. Both have raised more cash than anyone else in what’s shaping up to be this year’s priciest local election.
Both are poised to make history: Balducci as the first woman elected to the post (Shannon Braddock was appointed in April), Zahilay as the first immigrant to ever hold it. And both have the distinction of belonging to demographics our current orange overlord would happily deport, gag, or strip of basic bodily autonomy before breakfast.
True to her Bellevue bona fides (she once served as mayor of the land of high-end strip malls and cul-de-sac HOA drama), Balducci posted up at Lincoln’s Lookout for her primary night party. There was no way in hell we were about to throw ourselves into the meat grinder that is 520 rush hour traffic just to bask in the glow of “the city in a park” (a branding line that needs to suffer the same abrupt death as critical thinking skills in this country). So we headed to Zahilay’s shindig at Darkalino’s in Pioneer Square instead.
Early vibe? Early aughts club vibes, Belvedere-fueled solidarity (as one attendee already said), focaccia to spare, and enough progressive rhetoric flying around to spark a thirst trap for brunchtime liberals to fantasize about a third Obama presidency. About a third of the 300 RSVPs have already arrived, including Zahilay and his wife, Joyce, and 1-year-old child. Oh, and Attorney General Nick Brown just made a cameo.
“I’m out here tonight to see who wins and how people react—but if I had to bet, the vibe is Girmay, Bruce Harrell, Dionne Foster, and Erika Evans,” says Nicole Grant, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46.
Zahilay, meanwhile, has the vibe of a guy who definitely knows he’s moving on but is trying to play it cool, like he’s at a poker table with the worst poker face in the county.
“For me, it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the people who showed up, who knocked on doors, who believed in the work. I keep telling my team: We just want to make it to the general. We can’t control the outcome, only the effort we put in. And I’m proud of that. I was raised in King County, and now I’m raising my family here. That’s what drives me—I’m deeply rooted in this place and want to keep giving back to it.”
Thank You for the Crab Legs, Millionaires
7:50 p.m.
Jane Drago is at Bruce Harrell's party. Her husband gave us her resume. She is a former city council person and also Häagen-Dazs mogul? We’re not sure. The two have been married 66 years, and that tugs on our heartstrings. Tanya Woo is here. This does not tug on any heartstrings. We talked to an intern with the WA Alliance for Gun Responsibility. We don’t think she liked us. We especially don’t think she liked us after we asked if she was in high school. She had just graduated from college. Sorry!
The spread is decadent. There is a vat of crab. We are eating good tonight. Thank you to the donors!
An Empty Rooftop in Capitol Hill
7:30 p.m.
After asking a nice man with a French bulldog how to access the rooftop at this Capitol Hill apartment building that will remain secret, we find... absolutely no one on the rooftop.
White plastic tablecloths blow in the wind. Small disco balls sway on their perches. There's boxes of beer, bottles of whiskey, and a cherry liqueur. But no Ry Armstrong, an underdog's underdog candidate in the mayoral race.
Suddenly, Armstrong's campaign manager Sunny Owens arrives with another underdog mayoral candidate: Joe Molloy, who has a bag of ice tucked under his arm.
Molloy, who is homeless, says he'd learned a lot through this process. Mostly, how many people in this city want to be part of real solutions, but are struggling to keep their heads above water. "That's been very apparent to me," he says.
Armstrong has eight pizzas and pride in what they've accomplished: the 127 hours of calls, the 4,000 doors knocked, engaging disengaged people. That said, they're jaded. While touring the tiny home Hope Factory in SoDo, Armstrong says a man told them they agreed with 99 percent of their policies, but couldn't vote for them because he didn't think Armstrong could win in a dress. Armstrong says they're probably "too young" and "too trans" to win in Seattle in 2025. "But who knows? There's always a path."
Katie Wilson Says She's Nervous, but She Also Can't Stop Smiling
7:40 p.m.
We just watched a grown man tape his shoe back together.
In other news, when we asked Katie Wilson what a "good night" looked like for her, she made it clear she's shooting for the moon. When the ballots drop tonight, she's hoping to be within a few points of beating Harrell—so when the more progressive later ballots roll in, she can trounce him. Everyone's worried about low turnout today, but even Wilson and her husband dropped off their ballots this afternoon.
Bruce's Big Cake Mistake
7:25 p.m.
We got into Mayor Harrell's party just as they were bringing out the cake. But whoops! Turns out someone miscommunicated the message, and a big chunk of the icing was wiped away.
After another reporter asked what the cake originally said, a campaign staffer said, “We gotta figure this out,” and a volunteer replied, “I don’t think she wants to say.” Luckily, we grabbed a shot of the cake before it was defaced. It read "Congratulations, Mayor Harrell! On To The Primary."
They offered us a slice.
Jamie Fackler Sticks to the Bit
7:05 p.m.
We're at the joint election night party for Jamie Fackler, Rory O'Sullivan, and Katie Wilson at Centilia Cultural Center in Beacon Hill. There's a pizza truck for Katie "$8 slice of pizza" Wilson, and Fackler suckered his kid into wearing a donkey costume, because he's nothing if not dedicated to the bit. The whole party has a community center potluck vibe. There's kids everywhere, balloons at every table, and so many bags of tortilla chips. We're relieved that the food truck is here. That guac and hummus are already looking sweaty.
There Is Not Very Much Parking in Leschi, and Harrell's Base Is Going to Hate That
6:45 p.m.
We did not get invited to Bruce Harrell’s election night party in Leschi. His campaign never even responded to our inquiries! Fear not. Little birdies told us where it is. This is why we are 30 minutes early. Upon arriving, we had to parallel park into one of the only available spots. It took us three tries. We already hate this, and unless there is a secret special parking lot for Bruce’s guests who *definitely* all drove to this, then they are going to hate it, too. Anyway, we are now sitting on a Leschi dock, preparing for the inevitability that Harrell tells us to high-tail it out of here without even a single crab cake (based on the venue, we assume there will be crab cakes).
A pontoon boat full of tan blond people is singing happy birthday to one of their ilk. We are watching the staff at Harrell’s party place cups on tables.
Now we have moved to Lakeside Ave to scope the front entrance. We just saw three BMWs drive by in a row. Are these donors? We will wait a little longer.
You're Voting, You're Really Voting!
6:25 p.m.
A couple of hours ago, 22 percent of registered voters in King County had returned their ballots. Now, as of 6 p.m., the King County Elections office is reporting that 24 percent of y'all have done your civic duty. Will we beat last year's sad 41 percent? We believe in you, Seattle! Go! Vote! Ballot boxes and in-person voting centers are open until 8 p.m.!
What We’re Watching in City Council Position 9
6:15 p.m.
This race is keeping us on our toes. Recent polling put City Council President Sara Nelson and policy wonk Dionne Foster in another statistical tie, but the vast majority of voters were undecided. “It could break pretty aggressively in one way or the other,” said political consultant Stephen Paolini. “I don't think anyone has a good pulse on how that's going to break.”
What We’re Watching in the Mayor’s Race
6:10 p.m.
Katie Wilson’s campaign has been picking up speed, especially in the last month. New polling showed her statistically tied with Mayor Bruce Harrell at the end of last month, and fundraising-wise, they’re neck and neck (about half a million each). The big difference between the two right now is PAC money. Bruce Harrell for Seattle’s Future has already spent more than $180,000 on his behalf.
So what does a good night for Wilson look like tonight? According to Stephen Paolini, a local political consultant, it’d look like Harrell getting less than 45 percent of the vote, with her in second place. “I’m expecting her to actually have a really good night,” he says.
No One Is Dancing at Jeanie Chunn's Othello Park Primary Dance Party
5:56 p.m.
It’s still early, and maybe everyone is busy eating the fare from Soul Fusion, but the DJ in the park is bumping sick beats (remixes of "Jessie’s Girl" by Rick Springfield, "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry, "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire, "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar, "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot) to an audience of no groovers. But people are chowing down and playing corn hole. Maybe things will heat up as we get closer to ballot drop. We have yet to see Jeanie, but that’s because we are hungry and want Soul Fusion just like everyone else.
