(The Center Square) – Seattle’s city attorney race shows a possible progressive shift in the city’s political landscape.
Incumbent City Attorney Ann Davison, who was elected in 2021 with a tough-on-crime platform, trails progressive challenger Erika Evans, who nearly has a 20% lead.
Evans, a former assistant lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the city of Seattle, seeks, according to her campaign website, to expand pre-filing diversion programs, establish an anti-hate and bias crimes unit, prosecute wage theft, and hold landlords accountable.
“These results show Seattle is ready for change,” Evans’ campaign said in a social media post. “Our city deserves bold new leadership in the City Attorney’s Office.”
In her first term as city attorney, Davison cracked down on illegal graffiti, strengthened drug-related prosecutions, and eliminated an inherited criminal case backlog of nearly 2,000 misdemeanor cases.
Crime in Seattle also dropped 8.7% from a high of 50,367 cases in 2022 to 45,982 in 2024. As of Aug. 4, there have been 22,842 cases of crime in Seattle so far this year.
The latest primary results point to a shift in Seattle to a more progressive jurisdiction amid Donald Trump’s return as president this year. Two years ago, the Seattle City Council saw a major overhaul of new council members that represented a more centered governance over the previous council. Now that Trump is back, Seattleites seem more focused on fighting back against his executive orders.
While Davison is not running as a Republican, Evans points out that she ran as one in the past.
Davison unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor of Washington as a Republican in 2020. She collected 12% of votes in the primary race. Davison would later get elected as Seattle city attorney in 2021 with 51% of votes.
In an endorsement interview with the 36th District Democrats, Evans said if she is elected, she would fight back against the Trump administration’s threats to halt federal funding to the city. Her opponent is already litigating.
Davison is leading her campaign under the promise that she will fight on behalf of the city against the Trump administration. So far this year, Davison’s office joined multiple lawsuits over Trump’s executive orders targeting gender ideology, DEI policies, sanctuary policies, and stalled counterterrorism funding.
The city’s shift is even more present in its mayoral race, where Katie Wilson, a more progressive candidate, leads incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell with 48% of collected votes compared to his 43.5% as of Thursday morning.
When The Center Square asked Wilson’s campaign about what factors contributed to her lead in the primary election, it pointed to the progressive wave happening in some cities around the country; most prominently in New York City with Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who is the leading candidate to become the largest U.S. city’s next mayor.
Evans and Davison will face off in the general election on Nov. 4, an election that typically sees a higher voter turnout.
