Democratic socialist Katie Wilson elected mayor of Seattle as progressives win downballot races

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, Brew. 

By: Lara Bonatesta

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Democratic socialist Katie Wilson elected mayor of Seattle as progressives win downballot races
  2. Rep. Adelita Grijalva takes office—ending the second-longest U.S. House vacancy of the 119th Congress 
  3. Three candidates running in the Democratic primary for Texas' 29th Congressional District on March 3

Democratic socialist Katie Wilson elected mayor of Seattle as progressives win downballot races

With nearly 280,000 ballots counted as of Nov. 13, Katie Wilson has been declared the winner of the election for mayor of Seattle, defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell 50.2%-49.5%. Seattle has roughly 505,000 registered voters. 

Although Seattle’s mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan, both candidates were Democrats. This race was one of several 2025 mayoral contests that media outlets and political observers said highlighted splits in the larger Democratic Party, in this case between self-described Democratic socialist Wilson and the more centrist or moderate Harrell.

Wilson, a community activist and executive director of Seattle’s Transit Riders Union, described herself as both a Democratic socialist and a progressive Democrat. According to the Seattle Times, Harrell was the city's longest-serving politician. He was first elected to the Seattle City Council in 2008 and elected mayor in 2021. Media outlets described Harrell as a moderate or centrist Democrat. In interviews, Harrell said he had a record of sponsoring progressive legislation on the city council.

Several local Democratic organizations, including the King County Democrats, as well as the Transit Riders Union, PROTEC17, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 3000, endorsed Wilson. Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (D), Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D), Attorney General Nick Brown (D), and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) endorsed Harrell. 

Two other races that media outlets described as having a progressive-moderate split were the mayoral elections in New York City and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In New York, Zohran Mamdani (D), who also described himself as a Democratic socialist, defeated former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa (R). In Minneapolis, incumbent Jacob Frey, who described himself as a pragmatic progressive, defeated Omar Fateh, who described himself as a Democratic socialist. 

To take a deeper dive into the New York and Minneapolis mayoral races, click here and here.

How the balance of power has changed in Seattle

The election result in Seattle means Harrell will be the city’s fourth consecutive mayor to serve a single term. The last incumbent to win re-election was Greg Nickels in 2005.

According to the Seattle Times’ David Kroman, Wilson’s win confirmed a “clean sweep for progressives in this year’s Seattle elections as three incumbents — mayor, City Council president and city attorney — have now been ousted. That swing is in sharp contrast to the 2021 and 2023 Seattle elections, in which voters cast out the city’s most left-leaning politicians.” 

In the race for city attorney, Erika Evans defeated incumbent Ann Davison. KNKX Public Radio described Evans as a progressive. Davison was a former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

In the city council races:

Kroman wrote, “With the resounding return of the city’s more liberal wing, City Hall will be a much more divided place come Jan. 1. Unlike the near-unanimous moderate slate currently in all elected branches of government, Wilson will face a council that is more ideologically split.” According to Bolts Magazine, progressives will have a block of at least three members on the nine-member council.

Click here to learn more about the other city elections in Seattle.

Election results reporting, mail-in voting, and turnout

For almost a week after Election Day, Harrell was ahead of Wilson. On Monday, Nov. 10, Axios reported that Wilson had surpassed Harrell. According to Axios’ Melissa Santos, ”Seattle elections are known to see big leftward swings in later vote counts — and that's largely because younger, more progressive voters tend to cast their ballots on or near Election Day.” 

Washington is an all-mail voting state, and all eligible voters receive a ballot in the mail by default. Ballots needed to be postmarked by Nov. 4. Washington accepts valid ballots up to certification. Results will be certified on Nov. 25.

According to the unofficial King County election results, turnout was 55.4% in the general election. In 2021, the year of the last mayoral election, turnout was 54.6%. Turnout was 49.2% in  2017 and 52.5% in 2013.

Mayoral elections nationwide

Eighteen of the 100 most populous U.S. cities held general elections for mayor on Nov. 4. No cities had changes in mayoral partisan control as a result of those elections.

Mayoral races advanced to runoffs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida. The incumbents and candidates in Albuquerque and Jersey City are all Democrats. In Miami, Eileen Higgins and Emilio Gonzalez are running to succeed incumbent Francis Suarez (R). Miami’s mayoral elections are also nonpartisan. Higgins is affiliated with the Democratic Party, and Gonzalez is affiliated with the Republican Party.

Click here to see our full coverage of the Seattle mayoral election and here to see more mayoral election results.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva takes office—ending the second-longest U.S. House vacancy of the 119th Congress 

On Nov. 12, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) swore Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) into the U.S. House of Representatives, filling the vacancy in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District. Grijalva’s swearing-in brings the Republicans’ majority in the chamber to 219 to 214 with two vacancies.

The vacancy occurred because Grijalva’s father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), died on March 13. In the Sept. 23 special election to fill the vacancy, Grijalva defeated Daniel Butierez (R) 69% to 29%.

The House was out of session from Sept. 19 to Nov. 12, when they returned and approved the continuing resolution that ended the federal government shutdown. On Oct. 2, 180 House Democrats sent a letter to  Johnson asking him to swear in Grijalva during a pro forma session. Johnson said he could not swear in Grijalva during a pro forma session and that he would swear her in when everyone returned. To learn more about this, see our Brew coverage from Oct. 7.

Not including the special election in Arizona's 7th Congressional District, there have been four other special elections to fill vacancies in the 119th Congress (2025-2027). Johnson swore in three winners—Randy Fine (R-Fla.), Jimmy Patronis (R-Fla.), and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.)—of those special elections the day after their respective elections. Both Fine and Patronis were sworn in during a pro forma session. The other special election, in Texas' 18th Congressional District, advanced to a runoff. As of this writing, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has not yet announced a date for the runoff.

Vacancies in the 119th Congress

So far in the 119th Congress, there have been six vacancies in the U.S. House and three in the U.S. Senate:

  1. Governors appointed two Senators.
  2. Senator Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) was sworn into office 11 days after the start of the 119th Congress. Justice delayed his swearing-in in order to fulfill the remainder of his term as governor of West Virginia.
  3. Four U.S. House seats were filled after special election winners were sworn in.

As of Nov. 13, two vacancies in Texas' 18th Congressional District and Tennessee's 7th Congressional District have not been filled.

At 244 days, the vacancy in Arizona's 7th Congressional District is the second-longest vacancy in the 119th Congress. The longest vacancy is in Texas' 18th Congressional District, which has been vacant since Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) died on March 5. As of Nov. 13, the district has been vacant for 253 days.

Grijalva’s swearing in on Nov. 12 took place 50 days after she was elected on Sept. 23.

During the 113th to 118th Congresses (2013-2025), voters decided 66 special elections. During that period:

  • The median amount of time it took for special election winners to be sworn in was seven days.
  • Two special election winners—Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Curt Clawson (R-Fla.)—were sworn in the day after their respective special election victories. Both filled vacancies in the 113th Congress.
  • Rep. Jimmy Gomez's (D-Calif.) swearing-in in the 115th Congress (2017-20219) took the longest length of time—35 days. 
  • Three other special election winners—Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.), Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), and Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)—were sworn in during pro forma sessions. All three filled vacancies in the 116th Congress (2019-2021).

Click here to learn more about special elections to the 119th Congress.

Three candidates running in the Democratic primary for Texas' 29th Congressional District on March 3

Texas is holding some of the earliest primaries in 2026. Last week, we previewed the Republican primary for Texas' 8th Congressional District, and today we’re looking at the Democratic primary for Texas' 29th Congressional District on March 3.

Incumbent Sylvia Garcia (D), Jarvis Johnson (D), and Robert Slater (D) are running. The filing deadline is Dec. 8. Garcia and Johnson lead in local media attention.

The primary is taking place in the context of redistricting in Texas ahead of the 2026 elections. The Texas Tribune's Gabby Birenbaum wrote: "For the last two election cycles, Hispanics have made up 63% of the eligible voting population in Garcia’s 29th District; under the new lines, they are just 43%. Meanwhile, the Black eligible voting population...grew from 18% under the previous map to 33% of the district." To learn more about redistricting in Texas, click here.

Garcia was first elected to the House in 2018. Her campaign website says she is the first Latina to represent the district. Garcia is running on her record, which she says includes securing more than $1 billion in funding to establish a hydrogen hub in the district and funding improvements to local water mains.

Johnson is a business owner and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and the Houston City Council. Johnson says he is "a builder of futures, a connector of people, and a bold voice for those too often left out of the conversation." Johnson is also running on his record, which he says includes bringing back “more than $2.1 billion to Texas—securing vital investments in flood control, infrastructure, HBCUs, and neighborhood revitalization.”

As of November 2025, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball each rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic.

In the 2024 election, Garcia defeated Alan Garza (R) 65%–35% under the old district lines. An Inside Elections analysis of the August 2025 redistricting in Texas found the "7th and 29th districts both got a little bluer and remain Solid Democratic."

Click here to read more about the Democratic primary for Texas’ 29th Congressional District.