The Ultra Wealthy Are Trying To Buy Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Re-Election For $1 Million

The ultra wealthy are scared shitless that progressive challenger and primary-election-winner Katie Wilson will be the next Mayor of Seattle. So much so, the real estate industry, a bunch of CEOs, retirees, and other wealth-hoarders have dumped more than $1 million into an independent expenditure (IE) supporting Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s re-election campaign.

The IE, Bruce Harrell For Seattle’s Future, has raised a little more than $1.07 million as of Sunday evening. The PDC lists about 200 donors, but many of the individuals and organizations have donated twice — in many cases, once before the primary and another time, usually in a larger amount, after Wilson’s unexpected August victory. 

About a tenth of that funding comes from the Affordable Housing Council, which dropped $100,000 on the IE supporting Harrell a few weeks after Wilson put him to shame in the primary. That’s on top of the $10,000 the Affordable Housing Council gave to the IE in July. From the name of the organization, one might assume the Affordable Housing Council champions affordability for the working Seattleite, but actually this PAC, ran by the Master Builders Association, supports candidates who will help developers maximize their profits. 

The real estate industry is well represented throughout the list of IE donors. WA Association of Realtors PAC gave $1,666.66 before the primary and an additional $50,000 after. NAIOP WA State PAC gave $10,000 before and $25,700 after. Clise Properties, Inc. gave $5,000 before and then another $25,000 after. WA Multi Family Housing Association PAC gave $5,000 before and then $25,000 after.

The biggest individual donors shelled out $50,000 each: Billionaire businessman and Seattle Mariners Chairman John Stanton who catapulted to egregious wealth as an executive in the wireless telecommunications industry, his venture capitalist wife Theresa Gillespie, and retiree Microsoft Executive and Seattle Mariners General Partner Christopher Larson, who made headlines when he and his ex-wife divided their $102 million art collection in their 2012 divorce. Not exactly “of the people.”

Harrell is well-defended by the C-suite throughout the log of donors. The CEOs of the Seattle Kraken, Premera Blue Cross, Delta Dental of Washington, Weyerhaeuser, Remitly, R.C. Hedreen Co., Vibrant Cities, Triple Be Corporation, Brooks Running, and Skylight Capital have all contributed to the IE. So have the presidents of PNW Home Builders Group Inc, Compass Construction, Wright Hotels, and Pillar Properties. And, for what it's worth, some big names at Amazon, including Public Policy Senior manager Jared Axelrod, Director of Public Policy Guy Palumbo, and Chief Global Affairs Officer David Zapolsky. 

According to the PDC as of Sunday evening, Harrell is benefiting from more than ten times as much outside spending as Wilson. An IE supporting Wilson, Katie Wilson for an Affordable Seattle, has raised a little more than $86,000 according to the most recent filing. Only one person has donated more than $10,000, a software engineer at a “purpose before profit” social enterprise venture. Of any job, software engineer seems to be the most represented in the IE’s list of donors. 

The IE supporting Wilson does not seem likely to fundraise to the level of Harrell’s previous competitor Lorena González, who lost 41.8% to Harrell's commanding 58.6%. By the time the general election rolled around the IE supporting González, Essential Workers for Lorena, raised just under $1 million. As one may gather from the name, the IE pooled together money from labor unions including UNITE HERE Local 8, UFCW 3000 (then UFCW 21), and SEIU's Washington State PAC. Several union higher ups bet wrong on Harrell, cozying up to him to stay in his good graces when he (in their imagination) inevitably won re-election. So the IE supporting may not such strong spending from organized labor as González did. 

So it's clear Harrell will have a major monetary advantage going into their rematch this November. This could go one of two ways. Like in Harrell’s first campaign for Mayor and the 2023 City Council elections, the seat could go to the highest bidder. Harrell and his proxies will dominate the communication game, using their fat stack to inundate Seattle mailboxes, TV stations, and the digital sphere with attacks on Wilson — likely calling her “inexperienced” for her grassroots advocacy background or painting her as a radical defunder contrary to her literal platform. And that may draw out enough Wilson haters for Harrell to overtake her this time. 

Or, this level of influence from moneyed interests could totally backfire. Amazon dumped $1.5 million into the City Council races in 2019 and $100,000 in a special election to fund social housing earlier this year, but the naked attempts to buy the elections rubbed Seattle voters the wrong way, helping cement the victory for Amazon’s progressive enemies. But since voters don’t always make a habit of checking the PDC before they vote, that kind of blowback won’t happen without a serious, concerted effort to expose Harrell for what his IE proves he is: The Mayor for billionaires.