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While national media obsess over New York City’s lurch toward socialism under its rising star, Zohran Mamdani, few have noticed that Seattle is preparing its own ideological twin. What Mamdani is doing in Queens, progressive Katie Wilson is poised to replicate in the Pacific Northwest.
Wilson, an activist with almost no executive experience but deep roots in Seattle’s far-left circles, leads incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell in new polling. Her rise mirrors the political realignment sweeping New York: a movement powered by younger, fiercely ideological activists who view capitalism as the root of all injustice and government as the cure.
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A recent DHM Research poll shows Seattle voters are ready to hand City Hall to a slate of socialists and progressives. Wilson leads Harrell, while left-wing candidates are favored to win both open City Council seats and the city attorney’s race — the only citywide position still held by a Republican. It’s an echo of the Mamdani coalition in New York, where Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates have seized power from the traditional Democrats who once defined the city’s pragmatism.
The DSA, which backs Mamdani, has long treated Seattle as a second stronghold. Its influence was cemented a decade ago when the Seattle City Council turned “Tax Amazon!” and “$15 now!” into national slogans. Mamdani picked up the same playbook: vilify wealth, demand redistribution and sell it as “justice.” Wilson, too, proudly identifies with Mamdani’s brand of urban socialism. Like him, she wants to tax businesses and the wealthy to fund “social housing” — government-owned apartment blocks managed by the city.
Mamdani calls for public ownership of utilities and declares that capitalism has failed. In Seattle, Wilson uses softer language but the same intent. She supports a $1 billion housing bond, and frames private property as a social problem rather than a personal right. It’s the same utopian pitch, just delivered with Pacific Northwest politeness. But the results will be the same.
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In New York, Mamdani’s wing has helped drive businesses out, cripple housing construction and expand welfare dependency. In Seattle, the ideological groundwork has already been laid. Businesses are overtaxed, downtown is hollowed out and public safety remains in crisis. Now Wilson’s solution is more government — more taxes, more mandates, more “compassionate” policies that treat criminals and addicts as victims of the system.
Wilson’s lack of executive experience only compounds the risk. She’s never managed a department or overseen a meaningful budget, yet she’s asking voters to entrust her with a $9 billion city government. She’s admitted to relying on her parents for child care costs and “barely affording” her one-bedroom apartment — a relatable struggle, but not the résumé of a fiscal leader.
New York’s Mamdani will prove what happens when activists become executives: ideology overtakes practicality, creating the blueprint for dysfunction. Seattle will be next in line to follow it.
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Harrell, though imperfect, at least represents a vestige of moderation. His crime policies may lack teeth, and his leadership may underwhelm, but he knows the city can’t survive on slogans. Wilson, however, belongs to a movement that sees pragmatism as betrayal. She’s part of a generation of politicians who think failure means you didn’t go far enough left.
Seattle’s leftward slide mirrors New York’s trajectory under Mamdani’s influence. In both cities, the Democratic establishment is losing control to a radical faction determined to replace governance with activism. In both cities, voters weary of dysfunction are checking out, leaving the field to the most ideologically extreme. And in both cities, the consequences are the same: higher taxes, fewer businesses, and public safety in free fall.
DHM’s polling shows how far Seattle has drifted from common sense. Wilson captured more than half the vote in the August primary. With low voter turnout projected, it’s the activists — not the average voters — who will decide the city’s fate. That’s exactly how Mamdani and his allies seized control of New York politics. The engaged few impose their ideology on the disengaged many.
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To be clear, Wilson is not malicious. She’s articulate, sincere and willing to engage with critics. I’ve spoken with her on my “Seattle Red” talk show, and I respect that openness. But sincerity can’t substitute for results. New York’s socialist experiment has already shown what happens when compassion becomes policy and ideology becomes law. Crime rises, middle-class families leave, and the only people left are those too rich to flee or too poor to survive without the state.
If Wilson wins, Seattle will become the West Coast reflection of Mamdani’s New York — a laboratory for socialism cloaked in the language of fairness. The city that once embodied innovation will be run by an activist who still receives parental financial help while proposing to manage billions in taxpayer funds.
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This isn’t just about Seattle or New York. It’s about a growing movement using America’s biggest blue cities as proving grounds for democratic socialism. When it fails — and it will — it won’t just be a local problem. It will ripple outward, emboldening policymakers in Washington, D.C., and statehouses across the country who see cities like Seattle and New York as ideological test cases.
On Nov. 4, Seattle voters will decide whether to follow New York down that road. The choice isn’t between left and right — it’s between pragmatism and ideology, between reality and fantasy.
Wilson’s lack of executive experience only compounds the risk. She’s never managed a department or overseen a meaningful budget, yet she’s asking voters to entrust her with a $9 billion city government.
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If Wilson wins, it will mark not just a Seattle story but a national warning. America’s urban centers are becoming socialist city-states — run by activists, financed by taxpayers, and justified by failure.
What starts in New York doesn’t stay there. And if Seattle follows, it won’t just lose its soul. It’ll export its mistakes to the rest of the country.
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