Whoa. I’ll be sincere, going into election night time on Tuesday I actually thought Prop 1A was toast.
Like different Seattle voters, I acquired a number of full-page mailers that includes our Mayor Bruce Harrell’s smiling visage and signature, promising that by selecting Prop 1B I might have all of it: social housing and no new taxes! The Prop 1A mailer was cheery and boasted some confidence-boosting endorsements, from the Constructing Trades Unions to the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. However just one arrived, and it was a mere half web page.
Then there was that early February ballot from the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI), which confirmed a decent race with an edge for Prop 1B amongst respondents who already voted and those that initially stated they have been undecided. “The Sure on 1A marketing campaign and Home Our Neighbors actually has its work minimize out for it in these ultimate days of the election,” NPI government director Andrew Villeneuve concluded.
Home Our Neighbors had a floor recreation, certain, however might it match all that late-breaking money from Amazon and Microsoft?
Sure, because it turned out, it might. Regardless of being outspent within the ultimate stretch, Let’s Construct Social Housing’s disciplined, grassroots marketing campaign reached voters the place it mattered: at their doorways, on the sidewalk, of their communities. Prop 1A is main by a powerful margin, 60 to 40 p.c. Seattleites don’t like their company overlords telling them easy methods to vote. They do like social housing, and so they need it funded by way of progressive taxes.
“The election outcomes left little question that Seattle voters need our metropolis to behave shortly to create completely inexpensive social housing for folks dwelling on a spread of incomes — and we imagine that our wealthiest firms ought to assist pay for it,” stated Tiffani McCoy, Co-Govt Director of Home Our Neighbors. “That is now the second time that Seattle has informed its elected leaders, loud and clear, that we would like social housing!”
What classes can we draw from this victory for the left? Listed below are three.
First, Harrell is susceptible. Plastering his mug on all these mailers doesn’t seem to have helped Prop 1B, and it in all probability didn’t assist Harrell, both. Little question his endorsement was meant to reassure. As a substitute, it solidified the picture of a corporate-backed institution scheming to undermine a preferred initiative. From faculty soccer star to cheerleader for Amazon: Not a very good look, Bruce!
Certainly, NPI’s current ballot means that voters’ view of Harrell’s job efficiency has dimmed considerably since final fall. Within the context of his re-election bid, Harrell was considered unfavorably by 50 p.c of respondents—extra so than Councilmember Sara Nelson (44 p.c) or Metropolis Lawyer Ann Davison (31 p.c). Solely 36 p.c of respondents considered Harrell favorably. His tarnished “model” may very well have helped to sink the council’s various measure.
Second, the way forward for social housing in Seattle could rely upon electing a mayor who genuinely desires to see the brand new Seattle Social Housing Developer succeed—in different phrases, on defeating Harrell. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to undermine the developer won’t cease with engineering and bankrolling Prop 1B.
“Regardless of this clear mandate, we totally count on a authorized problem from the company pursuits who sought to defeat this measure,” stated McCoy.
There’s each motive to imagine that Harrell and a majority of the present metropolis council will proceed to be the Chamber’s prepared devices, creating and magnifying obstacles wherever potential. With 4 extra years of delays and no considerable outcomes, Seattle’s social housing experiment might begin to appear to be a failure, risking a decline in public assist.
Third, and crucially, we should always deal with what we conclude from Harrell’s vulnerability. Don’t assume for a minute that will probably be simple for a progressive challenger to unseat him. Sure, Seattle voters need to tax the wealthy. Sure, Trump’s reelection has considerably rekindled the spirit of resistance, which feels notably absent from Metropolis Corridor lately. However that doesn’t imply voters have stopped caring about homelessness and public security, the 2 points that drove the backlash elections of 2021 and 2023. Whereas NPI’s ballot doesn’t reveal the explanations for Harrell’s low approval rankings, my guess is that, above all, some who have been initially hopeful about his tenure don’t really feel he’s made a distinction on the streets. A profitable marketing campaign to oust Harrell must supply plans that folks can imagine in. It higher have realized some classes and never merely revert to the lefty bromides of the previous decade. Defund the police and cease the sweeps aren’t going to chop it.
There’s one other King County metropolis that ought to draw comparable conclusions from this particular election. Elevate the Wage Burien hammered out a stable victory with 55% of the vote, elevating the minimal wage to $21.10 with phase-ins for mid-sized and small employers. (Full disclosure, I helped to coordinate this marketing campaign by way of my function with the Transit Riders Union.) As in Seattle, this measure was energetically opposed by the Metropolis Corridor institution, which labored with enterprise pursuits to prepare dinner up an empty simulacrum of a minimal wage legislation in an effort to confuse voters. Our marketing campaign even got here to the brink of suing the Metropolis earlier than it agreed to an correct and non-prejudicial poll title and explanatory assertion.
As in Seattle, Burien’s right-leaning council majority was cemented within the 2023 elections and is utilizing its energy to do enjoyable issues like pointlessly punish the homeless. Not like Seattle, Burien’s mayor (Kevin Schilling, one of many council members chosen by his colleagues) is sadly not up for re-election this 12 months. However 4 of the seven council seats are, opening the way in which for progressives to retake a majority. Voters’ enthusiasm for elevating the minimal wage, regardless of the Metropolis’s shenanigans, means that that is potential. However to achieve success, candidates must encourage confidence that they provide an actual method ahead on homelessness and public security.
There’s mild on the horizon, Seattle and Burien! Let’s struggle the chaos within the different Washington, not with doomscrolling and performative shock at Trump’s antics, however by setting an instance of easy methods to govern successfully and with integrity. The centrists have had their flip. That is the 12 months to elect progressive native leaders who imagine that authorities can remedy massive issues and get shit executed. Let’s not squander this chance.
