Meet the socialist Mamdani-style mayor just elected to run West Coast's 5th largest city
A little more than a week after socialist New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani took the reins of the nation’s largest city, voters in Seattle elected a socialist that has...
By Fox News · Fox News
A little more than a week after socialist New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani took the reins of the nation’s largest city, voters in Seattle elected a socialist that has been compared to Mamdani to lead the West Coast’s fifth-largest city by population. Katie Wilson, a progressive activist who operates a small nonprofit called the Transit Riders Union, defeated Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell in an election so tight that it took over a week to determine. Harrell conceded Thursday as the vote totals all but guaranteed a win for Wilson, who, like Mamdani, identifies as a "democratic socialist." Like Mamdani, Wilson has faced criticism for past support of defunding the police, most notably through her support of a "Solidarity Budget" which would have cut the Seattle police force by 50%. "There’s a strong argument for simply disbanding police departments and starting over," Wilson wrote in a June 2020 op-ed. INCUMBENT SEATTLE MAYOR CONCEDES TO MAMDANI-STYLE 'SOCIALIST' WHO TAPPED HER PARENTS FOR MONEY WHILE RUNNING Similar to Mamdani, Wilson walked back her past statements on defunding the police and distanced herself from the "abolish the police" movement on a debate stage when pressed by Harrell. Leading up to Tuesday night's election, Wilson pledged to "Trump-proof" the City of Seattle and has been likened to New York City's Mamdani by political pundits on that angle as well. Wilson, like Mamdani, has proposed policies like implementing government-run grocery stores. She pledged to explore government-backed grocery stores if elected this fall after accepting the endorsement from grocery workers union UFCW 3000, Washington’s largest private-sector union. New York voters, meanwhile, saw a similar pitch from Mamdani. "Yes, Seattle voters want to tax the rich," Wilson wrote in February of this year, echoing a prominent socialist platform, championed by Mamdani, of increasing the tax burden on the wealthiest residents. Prior to her establishment of the Transit Riders…