Pete Buttigieg endorses Bruce Harrell as Seattle mayoral race tightens

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell received a significant endorsement as the city’s mayoral race intensifies.

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is backing Harrell for reelection, having praised his work on housing, child care, and public safety.

“Today, I want to share why I am proudly supporting my friend Bruce Harrell for reelection as mayor of Seattle,” Buttigieg said. “Bruce is delivering real change for Seattle. I’m proud to support Bruce because he brings people together, turns vision into action, and is building a Seattle where everyone can thrive.”

Harrell advanced to the general election, facing challenger Katie Wilson in the Nov. 4 election. Despite advancing, Harrell underperformed in the August primary, getting slightly more than 41% of the vote. Wilson led the primary with nearly 51% of the vote.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal have previously endorsed Harrell.

Seattle voters haven’t reelected their mayor in some time. If Harrell wins, he would become Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels in 2009.

A Katie Wilson endorsement could have been falsified

While Harrell’s endorsement could give him a significant boost in the race, Wilson’s endorsement “claim” could derail any positive momentum for her.

Wilson stated that she was endorsed by Claude Burfect, a prominent civil rights activist who was the first vice president of the Seattle-King County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, Burfect told Frontlines he never endorsed her.

Burfect also accused Wilson of photoshopping a picture of him for her campaign and tagging it with the word “endorsed.”

“She used me to elevate her,” Burfect said in the report. “She’s dishonest.”

Meanwhile, Wilson told KIRO Newsradio that Burfect did endorse her over the phone and subsequently confirmed his endorsement through an email exchange. Wilson said that Burfect both endorsed her over the phone and confirmed his endorsement through email.

“Claude Burfect endorsed me during a phone conversation I had with him in August, and subsequently confirmed his endorsement via email,” Wilson’s team wrote in a statement. “Claude is free to change his mind, as sometimes happens during campaigns, and we wish him nothing but the best.” 

Wilson’s team then sent two screenshots of the email exchange between her and Burfect, which she said occurred after the phone call.

Burfect first emailed an official photo of himself to Wilson.

Wilson responded:

Thank you, Claude, and it was great to talk with you this afternoon. I’m so honored to have your support.

This photo is a little bigger than the one you texted, but the resolution may still be too low. I did find a larger black-and-white version online (attached), so we can use that in a pinch if you’re not able to send a larger file.

How is “Civil Rights Activist and Union Leader” as a description of you? Or let me know if you prefer something else.

I’m ccing my campaign manager, Alex Gallo-Brown, so he can make sure we add you to our endorsements webpage.

Let’s keep in touch!

Katie”

To which Burfect replied, “Perfect.”

Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest