Left-wing activist Katie Wilson came out ahead of incumbent Democratic Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in Tuesdays mayoral primary election placing her in a strong position to defeat the incumbent in Novembers general election.

Wilson whom multiple leftist outlets have favorably compared to socialist Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani  received 46.21% of the nonpartisan primary vote, while Harrell received 44.86%. Wilson was prominently endorsed by the King County Democratic Party and the Democratic committees of multiple Washington legislative districts.   (RELATED: Zohran Mamdani Zigs And Zags When Asked If He Regrets Calling For Defunding Police)

Under Seattles top-two primary system, both Wilson and Harrell have advanced to the general election. Harrell who has served as the Emerald Citys mayor since 2022  is considered to be the more moderate of the two candidates.

Wilson is the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union (TRU), a Seattle-based democratic membership organization, according to her campaigns website. The TRUs website describes the organization as an independent, democratic, member-run union of transit riders organizing for better public transit in Seattle, King County and beyond.

A June 29 op-ed in The Urbanist, a publication that later endorsed Wilson, called the transit union leader a progressive who would break a long run of timid centrist leadership, adding that the similarities are numerous between her and Mamdani. The op-ed stated that both Wilson and the New York socialist are young, stridently progressive, and reviled by the political elites in their city. Wilson used to be a policy and politics writer for The Urbanist, among other outlets.

Though seen as a moderate by many, Harrell has faced significant criticism from the right, notably for labeling a pro-life event and Christian concert an extreme right-wing rally. If he were to win the general election, the Democratic incumbent would be the first two-term Seattle mayor since 2009.

Harrell was not the only incumbent to fail to come in first place during Tuesdays Seattle primary elections.

Republican Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison came in second in her nonpartisan primary, trailing left-wing challenger Erika Evans, a former assistant U.S. attorney. Evans quit her job as a federal prosecutor weeks after President Donald Trump began his second term, citing the administrations crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as well as the presidents efforts to end birthright citizenship, CNN reported.

Evans has criticized the registered Republican incumbents tough-on-crime approach in office, claiming that Davisons crime policies amount to a regressive cycle, and that instead the city should address root causes of lower-level crimes. Evans also backs the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program that offers law enforcement a credible alternative to booking people into jail for criminal activity that stems from unmet behavioral health needs or poverty.

A key component of Evans campaign message was that Davison, a Republican, is Not Like Us, according to The Stranger, another left-wing outlet Wilson used to write for.

Wilsons first-place primary performance followed both Mamdanis stunning June 24 primary win as well as the July 19 decision of Minneapolis Democratic Party affiliate to endorse socialist candidate Omar Fateh over incumbent Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey. Fateh and Frey will face off in Novembers general election, in which the incumbent has the endorsement of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Under 20% of Seattle voters submitted ballots in the citys primary elections.

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