Seattle mayor endorses challenger to WA Senate majority leader

The democratic socialist mayor of Seattle on Saturday night endorsed opponents running to the left of two longtime Democratic state legislators who represent the city, including the party’s top lawmaker in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen said Mayor Katie Wilson told him during a meeting she requested yesterday that she would endorse Hannah Sabio-Howell, the progressive activist challenging Pedersen in Seattle’s 43rd Legislative District. Pedersen said he’d asked Wilson last fall for her endorsement, but she’d demurred.

Rep. Gerry Pollet said Wilson told him in a phone call on Saturday morning that she planned to endorse one of his primary opponents, Ron Davis, for the House seat in the 46th District, which includes much of north Seattle east of Aurora Avenue. Pollet has held the seat since 2011.

Wilson confirmed the endorsements in an emailed statement late Saturday.

With the endorsements, the first-term mayor of the state’s biggest city is spurning two veteran Seattle legislators — including one of the most powerful lawmakers in Olympia — while backing a pair of political newcomers who are more firmly in her camp on the party’s left flank.

Wilson said she was also backing Jaelynn Scott in her bid for a House seat in the 37th District, which covers south Seattle neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, the Central District, Rainier Valley, Columbia City and the city of Renton. That seat opened up because Democratic state Rep. Chipalo Street is running for Senate.

Pedersen was a main architect of the state’s new income tax on high earners.

He said Saturday that he’d hoped Wilson would devote her political energy this year to defeating an expected ballot measure aimed at overturning the income tax.

“It’s a little disappointing that she’s instead doing this,” Pedersen said.

Pollet, who has a reputation as a key liaison between Seattle municipal government and Olympia, said Wilson indicated that her decision was driven not by his policy positions, but by the mayor’s ties to Davis. Davis helped lead efforts to create a campaign fundraising operation that supported Wilson’s mayoral run last year, raking in around $442,000.

“She acknowledged that I’ve been a leader in support of the city,” Pollet added, recounting his phone call with Wilson. The message, he heard: legislators who work with the city “can be thrown overboard if the mayor has a personal relationship with someone else.”

Wilson described Davis as “one of the hardest workers I know.”

“He’s equally at home deep-diving into housing policy and knocking on the doors of actual houses to hear from his neighbors about their lives and concerns,” she added. “He’s also a dad who cares deeply about making our city affordable for working families.”

Davis didn’t immediately respond to a phone message and email seeking comment.

Pollet pointed to frustrations among constituents in his district with the mayor, specifically related to gun violence and sex trafficking around Aurora Avenue.

He said he’d recommended to residents in that area that they block off streets themselves (which they did with planters) following shootings in the corridor. He told them this would likely spur the city to take action to address the crime issues. Earlier this month, Wilson moved to close some streets in the area.

“They’re not happy with her,” Pollet said.

Both Pedersen and Pollet questioned how much of a difference Wilson’s endorsement will make as Washington’s Aug. 4 primary election approaches.

In Pollet’s race, both he and Davis trail a third contender in fundraising. Will Dreher, also a Democrat, has raised around $257,000. Pollet has about $165,000 socked away, and Davis has raised around $135,000. Because it’s a three-way race, it’s possible Pollet could get knocked out in the primary stage.

Pedersen is well-positioned to advance to the November general election. A third candidate in his race, Heather-Marie Wilson, does not state any party preference and has not raised any money, according to her most recent campaign finance reports. As it stands, Pedersen’s has a big fundraising advantage, with $345,000 raised, compared to Sabio-Howell, who has piled up around $81,500.

In 2022, Pedersen ran unopposed, winning 98% of the vote in the general election.

But this year is different politically, with the growing rift within the Democratic Party.

Wilson’s endorsement isn’t the only noteworthy one to not break in Pedersen’s favor. The 43rd District Democrats also backed Sabio-Howell.

Asked Saturday if he was worried about his reelection, he recalled what someone once told him about electoral politics: “You’re either running unopposed or you’re running scared.”

“There’s no certainty in this work,” he added.