Jack and Spike Show: Seattle is no longer the most progressive city

In Seattle’s 2023 election, moderate and business-friendly candidates have outperformed their progressive-leaning opponents in the first drop of ballots. Three city council incumbents — Tammy Morales, Dan Strauss and Andrew Lewis — trail their respective challengers.

“So, Seattle is no longer the most progressive city,” Jack Stine, co-host of The Jack and Spike Show on KIRO 97.3 FM. “About six months ago, I told you my theory on how these elections were going to turn out. In political systems, they tend to swing one way, then there is a reaction, and then they tend to swing back the other way. And everybody said, ‘That’s never going to happen in Seattle. That’s never going to happen in King County.'”

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According to the most recent vote count, Tammy Morales trails Tanya Woo in District 2 by a margin of 8.6 points. Dan Strauss is just 1 point behind Pete Hanning, and Andrew Lewis has fallen behind Bob Kettle by more than 11 points.

“But just to remind people, crime is the biggest motivator for people to get out and vote and vote for somebody who they might not usually vote for,” Stine added. “You can take the most lefty of lefty progressive people, and then they have one too many catalytic converters stolen from them…”

With Kshama Sawant, the longest-tenured council member, leaving the city council in favor of starting a new political party — Workers Strike Back — Joy Hollingsworth has taken an 15-point lead over her challenger, Alex Hudson, in District 3.

“Hollingsworth seemed a lot more confident to me in her positions about graffiti and about leaf blowers and about crime,” Stine said when evaluating the District 3 race.

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For the race to represent District 1, Rob Saka has close to an 18-point lead over Maren Costa, a progressive-leaning candidate.

“Lisa Herbold is likely going to be replaced by Rob Saka, who’s a centrist attorney,” Stine said. “Basically what you have is a bunch of moderates who are coming in and they’re saying, ‘Listen, I want to have a safe neighborhood. That is my priority.’ I think four out of the five who were backed by Mayor Harrell are pretty much in the city council.”

Hollingsworth was the first candidate in this race to receive an endorsement from Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Harrell has found himself at odds with the city council since he first became mayor in 2021. Last year, according to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH 770 AM, while explaining to the Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers about his unhappiness with the homelessness crisis in the city, he took aim at groups that the city funds and some council members.

“Some of the same people that were talking about defunding are now saying, ‘Well, we understand that we have to be aligned with the Harrell administration,'” Harrell told officers last year, according to The Jason Rantz Show. “They still take shots at me on my homelessness strategy, because I, quite frankly, I don’t think anyone has a right to sleep in a public space. I don’t think anyone has a right to sleep on a sidewalk and I don’t think anyone has the right to sleep in the park.”

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“I don’t want to see Seattle ending up like San Francisco. I read that (phrase) over and over, I must have read it two or three dozen times last night,” Stine said. “And they say to themselves, I can’t let this place end up like that place because you’ve heard me say it before, I will not go into these places.”

Ballots will continue to be counted and certified several weeks after Election Day, find all election results at the top of our homepage.

Listen to the Jack and Spike Show weekdays from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.