JUST IN: Socialist Mayoral Candidate Flops On Election Day, Now Faces Potential Defeat

Socialist insurgent Katie Wilson swaggered into Election Day as the darling of Seattle’s progressive left — riding a double-digit primary win and a poll showing her on track to take City Hall.

After all, with fellow left-wing activist Zohran Mamdani sweeping into Gracie Mansion, the socialist wave looked unstoppable.

Then reality smacked Seattle’s activist class right in the face.

Early returns Tuesday night showed incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell leading with about 53% of the vote — a sharp jolt to Wilson’s supporters who spent weeks treating the race as a coronation.

Harrell, sounding confident but cautious, told supporters, “We ran a stronger platform. We think we’re more experienced and qualified for this job, and we’ll see how the vote count plays out. I’d rather be where we are than where she is right now.”

But in deep-blue Seattle, nothing is over until the last mail-in ballot lands. Only about 23% of registered voters were counted Tuesday — in a city where later votes tend to skew younger, bluer, and way further left. Wilson and her movement are banking on a late surge.

“These are promising numbers, and we are going to be pulling out all the stops in the next couple weeks between now and when ballots are certified to make sure every vote is counted,” she told cheering backers.

If Harrell hangs on, he’ll break a 20-year curse — becoming the first Seattle mayor in two decades to snag a second term in a city where far-left challengers and activist mobs often chew up incumbents.

Wilson, who runs a tiny nonprofit called the Transit Riders Union and previously bounced between odd jobs, began the race as a fringe contender. Harrell — a former City Council president with deep ties across Seattle’s political establishment — looked like a lock.

But Seattle’s political class got a rude awakening when the August primary turned into a barnburner, setting the stage for one of the most ideological slugfests in America.

“This campaign, which was supposed to be such a yawner, has ended up being one of the closest races in the country,” said political consultant Cathy Allen.

Now Seattle waits as mail-in ballots trickle in — and the city’s future hangs on whether voters stick with stability or lurch further left.

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