Delegates from the MLK Labor Council voted Wednesday evening to endorse both Mayor Bruce Harrell and challenger Katie Wilson in Seattle’s mayoral election. Before the primary, MLK Labor had given Harrell a sole endorsement in this year’s race.
MLK Labor is King County’s central labor organization, representing more than 150 unions and 220,000 workers.
Its endorsements — along with those of many of the large unions that make up its membership — are a stamp of approval for pro-labor politicians and typically go to the left-lane candidate in Seattle races.
“MLK Labor is proud to update our endorsement in the Seattle mayoral race to support both Mayor Bruce Harrell and now, Katie Wilson,” said Katie Garrow, MLK Labor executive secretary-treasurer in a statement following the vote. “A dual endorsement by MLK Labor shows both candidates have earned meaningful support from working people and accurately reflects the views of union members across Seattle.”
In 2021, labor threw its weight behind Harrell’s challenger, former Seattle City Councilmember M. Lorena González. This year, however, unions were quick to rally around Harrell.
MLK Labor voted to endorse Harrell shortly after the candidate filing deadline in May. At the time, the organization cited Harrell’s work on pro-worker levies, his defense of Seattle’s minimum-wage laws and his willingness to stand up to “federal overreach when working people’s rights are at stake.”
Harrell also netted early endorsements from SEIU 775, Seattle’s Building and Construction Trades Council, the Amalgamated Transit Union, IBEW, Teamsters and others.
It gave Harrell’s reelection an air of inevitability. Wilson, a progressive political organizer running to Harrell’s left, faced a steep uphill fight without labor endorsements and, importantly, campaign donations.
The tide shifted slightly in June when PROTEC 17, the largest union of city of Seattle employees, endorsed Wilson. She also picked up endorsements before the August primary from UAW Local 3121, which represents University of Washington graduate students, and the American Federation of Teachers Washington.
Then Wilson won the primary by 9.5% and Harrell’s reelection no longer felt assured.
Since then, she has picked up endorsements from UFCW 3000, which represents grocery and retail workers and is the largest private sector union in Washington, and from the service workers’ union SEIU 925.
In its dual endorsement, MLK Labor cited Wilson’s work on initiatives to raise the minimum wage in south King County cities and her role in the crafting and passage of Seattle’s Jumpstart payroll tax on big businesses. It also cited Wilson’s endorsements from other large unions.
MLK Labor delegates also voted Wednesday to endorse King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay in the King County Executive race; Sam Mendez for Burien City Council Position 3; Joe Van for Highline School Board Position 3; and Damarys Espinoza for Highline School Board Position 4. MLK Labor also endorsed passage of the Seattle Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy.
