Seattle is gearing up for a new era as Katie Wilson, the city’s newly elected socialist mayor, vows to ‘Trump-Proof’ the metropolis. Her victory marks a significant shift in Washington’s largest city, reflecting a broader political trend seen in cities like New York.

Wilson, who is 43, emerged victorious in a closely contested race, securing 50.2% of the vote. She edged out incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell by a mere 2,004 votes, as reported by the King County Board of Elections. Her win signals a notable move towards progressive policies in Seattle’s political landscape.

Emulating the approach of New York City’s Zohran Mamdani, Seattle is embracing the possibility of change with Wilson at the helm. Her election represents a growing acceptance of socialist leadership in traditionally Democratic strongholds along the West Coast.

Wilson has outlined an ambitious agenda aimed at ‘Trump-Proofing’ the city, a vision that includes bolstering affordable housing, enhancing public safety, and tackling the challenges faced by Seattle’s homeless population, which numbers around 16,000. Her commitment to these issues underscores her focus on addressing the city’s most pressing concerns.

With a pledge to implement a progressive, socialist platform, Wilson intends to introduce new taxes on the wealthy and establish publicly-funded grocery stores. These proposals mirror those of Mamdani, drawing frequent comparisons between the two leaders. As Wilson prepares to assume office, her agenda is set to bring a fresh wave of change to Seattle, with her policies poised to reshape the city’s future.

President Donald Trump, 79, has also already called her a ‘very liberal-slash-communist mayor’ who he said was ‘certainly beyond just liberal.’ 

He also diminished her to ‘another beauty’ and has threatened to take away the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which has a scheduled six matches in the Emerald City this summer. 

‘If we think there’s gonna be another problem, we’re gonna move this event to another place where it’s going to be appreciated and safe,’ Trump said.

Now, Wilson is prepared to stand before President Trump, if he’ll have her, to defend her city. 

‘I’ll meet with anyone,’ she told The Seattle Times. ‘I mean, he’s the president of the United States… There are going to be some people who probably see taking those meetings as selling out. 

‘But I think that a lot of people on the progressive left do have a sophisticated understanding of what it’s going to take to deliver on a bold progressive agenda, and that it’s not just about only talking to your friends and using the mayor’s office as a soapbox.’

Trump has not extended an offer to Wilson at this time. The Daily Mail has reached out to Wilson for comment.  

Here are all the ways Wilson’s policies are set to change Seattle. 

Trump-proof Seattle 

Wilson has been on a campaign to ‘Trump-proof’ Seattle since 2017, when Transit Riders Union – an organization she cofounded – proposed to start an income tax on wealthy households. 

Washington State does not have an income tax. It is one of the nine that do not.

‘That was inspired by Trump’s first election,’ she wrote on her campaign website. 

‘Here we are eight years later, again having to think about how to protect ourselves and our neighbors from the actions of an even more virulent federal administration.’ 

‘We know what’s coming, because it’s already happening,’ she continued. 

‘Cuts to safety net programs, cuts to federal grants that support local services and infrastructure projects, tax cuts for the rich, attacks on the most vulnerable members of our communities.’

She has vowed to defend the LGBT+ community, reproductive rights, immigrants and refugees, and fight against mass deportation. 

Wilson also said Seattle will continue SNAP benefits, Medicaid, and other federal programs that are in peril. 

What are critics saying? 

Wilson is walking into a deficit in the budget of $127 million, according to The Urbanist. With federal grant cuts, she faces an even bigger budget problem, which could make it harder to complete her agenda. 

Affordable and abundant housing

Affordable housing is a massive problem across the US. Seattle’s monthly average rents for a one-bedroom apartment are $1,795, a two-bedroom is $2,640, according to Zillow estimates. 

The average home sells for nearly $841,000 in the city, which is up by hundreds of thousands compared to the national average. 

‘The cost to rent or buy a home in Seattle is far too high. Too many families are paying well over a third of their income in housing costs, or leaving the city altogether,’ Wilson said on her campaign website. 

Wilson moved to the city with her husband in her early 20s and said it was easy to find an affordable place to live and to build a life in the coastal city. However, she admits, that isn’t the same for those moving there now and she still needs her parents’ money to afford to live there. 

‘Today, it would be nearly impossible for another young couple to follow in our footsteps,’ the mother-of-one said. 

Wilson’s father David, 76, exclusively told the Daily Mail he and his ex-professor wife spent about $5,000 to help their daughter – but hopes she’ll no longer need the cash when she starts earning a $250,000 City Hall salary.

Wilson, who shares a two-year-old daughter with her unemployed husband, had admitted her parents helped pay for childcare costs that amounted to about $2,200 a month.

After revealing that he sent his daughter ‘four or five checks,’ David pushed back on discussing the details of his parental largesse. ‘Oh please, don’t get that specific,’ he exclaimed. ‘I mean, what’s the point?’

Wilson has vowed to build publicly-owned, permanent affordable housing, as Seattle residents have voted for twice. 

Wilson also promises to pursue a $1 billion bond, like King County has, to create thousands of units and homes faster. 

She has also proposed using empty units as places to shelter homeless people.  

What are critics saying? 

Critics wonder if putting up homeless people in vacant apartments and building homes to get people off the street will cause a housing shortage in the already-expensive city. 

Each unit could cost the city $20,000 a year, and there isn’t enough funding to keep the proposal going, especially when federal fund runs out next year. 

The proposal could cost the city and taxpayers between $72 million and $165 million annually, The Times estimated.  

Homelessness

Seattle has anywhere between 16,000 and 22,000 homeless people living on the streets, and the city’s shelter system is overloaded. 

Wilson promised to open 4,000 new units of emergency housing within the next four years. 

She is also looking to revert the drug-infested city back to a paradise by investing in opioid treatment programs, mobile treatment services, counseling, and housing. 

Her biggest plan is to create a local deep housing subsidy to help keep people in their federally-funded homes after the government grant expires next year. 

Wilson also wants to help keep low-income residents in their homes and will work to keep eviction notices off their doors to avoid a ‘revolving door back into homelessness.’ 

What are critics saying? 

Incumbent Harrell called her plan ‘short-sighted’ and say it will ‘decimate new affordable housing production.’ 

‘Katie Wilson claims to care about affordability, yet her signature plan would gut funding for the most effective tool we have to increase affordability: more housing,’ his campaign said. 

He called it a ‘blueprint for disaster’ and said it would ‘deprive low-income and working people of new affordable housing.’  

Public safety  

Crime rates in Seattle are significantly higher than the national average. According to a study by Security.org based on 2024 FBI data, it is the fourth worst city in the country.

Total crime rate per 100,000 people was 5,782.7 last year, that’s 172.9 percent higher than the national average of 2,119 incidents.

But crime rates have been falling this year. The total number of offenses recorded are 36,224 as off November 26. For the whole of 2024, 45,884 were reported.

To tackle crime, Wilson wants to bolster existing programs such as the Fire Department’s Health 99 program, which connects people who have overdosed with services after being stabilized. 

She also wants to ‘dramatically improve the city’s record on violence prevention and response’ by getting guns off the street, making it harder to get lethal weapons, including limiting bulk purchases of firearms, and by getting better lighting to protect pedestrians. 

The socialist also wants to expand ‘alternative crisis response’ and increase civilian roles so ‘police can focus on policing.’ 

What are critics saying? 

Harrell argued during the campaign that his opponent, like Mamdani, had previously advocated for defunding the police. 

She has since walked back on that and said: ‘We can’t just scale down the size of the police department based on the calls we think can be taken by alternative responders,’ despite advocating for more ‘alternative crisis response’ programs.