Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is desperately hoping for a war with President Donald Trump to rescue his floundering re-election campaign, thinking it will mobilize progressives he needs in order to fend off a far-left challenger. But this strategy is a one-way ticket to becoming yet another forgettable one-termer.
On Monday, Harrell hijacked a waterfront concert series and turned it into another campaign pit stop. He dusted off his tired “One Seattle!” slogan—his supposedly visionary plan to “revitalize” the city, which mostly involves stringing up decorative lights a block away from the homeless crisis. But Harrell made it clear: he needs a villain, and he’s picked Trump.
“One Seattle! We’re all here together to fight for the city. Fight against Trump. Fight for diversity. Fight for inclusion. Fight for LGBTQ+. Our values. We will fight, fight, fight,” Harrell said awkwardly, borrowing language from Trump’s response after the first failed assassination attempt.
The week before, Harrell criticized the Trump administration for calling out his own bigoted response to Christian worshippers praying in public, effectively arguing they were asking to be attacked by Antifa and other radical left-wing thugs.
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“We have had no official notice of an investigation by the FBI into the City, only a vague tweet, which seems to be the norm from the Trump administration. Free speech protections are fundamental to a functioning democracy and to my administration. We will not shy away from standing up for Seattle residents and values under pressure from the Trump administration,” Harrell’s office said in a statement.
This is a losing strategy.
Why is Bruce Harrell picking a fight with Donald Trump? Because he’s losing.
Progressive challenger Katie Wilson—who nobody’s heard of outside a handful of activist circles—has a slight lead, according to the far-left Northwest Progressive Institute. Thirty-six percent to Harrell’s 33%, with 30% still undecided. That’s humiliating for a sitting mayor who’s had a free ride from Seattle’s fawning press corps, despite accomplishing little that he can actually take credit for.
Instead of fixing anything, Harrell’s preferred role is making ceremonial speeches and schmoozing at cocktail parties while his deputies handle the actual work. People have noticed.
Now, panicked, he’s hoping an anti-Trump crusade will fire up the activist base. Spoiler: it won’t. It just makes him look desperate.
Lessons not learned
Former Mayor Jenny Durkan tried the same move.
She pandered to the Radical Left during the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone fiasco, promising a “summer of love” while six city blocks spiraled into chaos. She picked fights with Trump, told him to stay out of Seattle’s business—and ended up with two murdered teenagers, assaults, arson, and national embarrassment. Durkan’s reward? Irrelevance. Nobody’s thought about her until reading her name in this column.
Durkan’s embrace of the Radical Left, hoping it would help keep her in power, backfired. Harrell’s making the same mistake, expecting a different result.
Harrell can’t stay mayor when he’s focused on Trump
The Radical Left in Seattle will never be satisfied. Harrell didn’t need them to win last time, and he doesn’t need them now. But his campaign is blinded by Wilson’s “threat,” so he won’t do the obvious: be an adult, condemn political violence from his own side, and actually work to fix homelessness, crime, and housing.
Instead, he’s chasing a fight with someone who’s infinitely more powerful, charismatic, and politically savvy. Does he really think battling Trump will make him a hero? The activists will yawn, and everyone else will wonder why he’s ignoring Seattle’s real problems.
Fighting Trump isn’t a substitute for being mayor—though for the famously disengaged Harrell, it might seem like the easier job.
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