Seattles new socialist mayor is facing a swift and severe backlash from her own voters, with fresh polling showing a dramatic collapse in public confidence just months into her first year in office.
According to The Post Millennial, two separate surveys released this week reveal that Mayor Katie Wilson has rapidly squandered the goodwill that typically accompanies a new administration. A Change Washington poll conducted August 1317 found that only 22 percent of registered Seattle voters approve of Wilsons job performance, while a staggering 66 percent disapprove and 12 percent remain unsure.
Even more alarming for the mayor, 60 percent of respondents in that same poll said Wilson should resign or be removed from office, compared with just 30 percent who believe she should stay and 10 percent who were undecided. Those results are echoed by a separate survey from Fulcrum Strategy Group for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, which shows her personal favorability rating in freefall.
That Fulcrum poll of 500 registered voters, conducted August 1013, found Wilsons favorability had plunged to 37 percent, down from 57 percent in Aprila 20-point collapse in only four months. Sixty-two percent now view Wilson unfavorably, including 42 percent who hold a strongly unfavorable view, a striking repudiation in a city long dominated by progressive politics.
While the two polls measure different aspects of public opinionChange Washington focusing on job performance and Fulcrum on favorabilityboth paint a consistent picture of deep dissatisfaction. The data suggest that Wilsons ideological brand of socialism and her policy choices are rapidly losing traction even among the left-leaning electorate that propelled her into office.
Perhaps most troubling for Wilson is that the erosion is not confined to conservatives or independents but has penetrated the heart of Seattles overwhelmingly Democratic base. The Change Washington poll found that 60 percent of Democrats disapprove of Wilsons job performance, while only 28 percent approve, a remarkable reversal for a mayor elected on a progressive platform.
Among independents, the verdict is even harsher, with 79 percent disapproving of her performance and a mere 8 percent expressing approval. A majority of Democrats53 percentalso told Change Washington that Wilson should resign or be removed, while only 37 percent said she should remain in office, underscoring the breadth of the discontent.
Independents are even more decisive on that question, with 76 percent saying they want her out, a level of opposition that would be daunting for any mayor, let alone one still in the early months of her tenure. Fulcrums findings independently confirm that the damage is concentrated among the very voters who once formed Wilsons political base.
Her favorability among self-described progressives has dropped 17 percentage points, while her standing among liberal Democrats has fallen by 22 points, signaling that ideological allies are turning away. Among more traditional Democrats, Wilson is now viewed favorably by just 37 percent and unfavorably by 62 percent, according to reporting on the Fulcrum results, a stark warning sign for a mayor who ran as a champion of the left.
The Fulcrum poll also sheds light on what is driving this rapid decline, and the picture is grim for an administration that has prioritized progressive social policies over basic order. Voters gave Wilsons administration a D for its response to the Bite of Seattle mass shooting and its handling of illegal drug use, while assigning a D+ on encampments, street disorder, overall safety, and government transparency.
Fulcrum founding partner Andrew Thibault emphasized that the data highlight the centrality of crime and safety to voters concerns, cutting through ideological rhetoric. Really what isn't surprising is that public safety is the issue because public safety is the core issue, Thibault told FOX 13. It is the fundamental issue that mayors have to get right.
A related Fulcrum survey found that two-thirds of Seattle voters lack confidence that Wilson has an effective plan to improve public safety, a devastating assessment for any city leader. At the same time, 75 percent support Seattles CCTV public-safety camera program, 74 percent favor expanding cameras to major gathering locations such as Seattle Center, and 71 percent back placing cameras in areas plagued by open-air drug markets or high levels of street disorder.
Those findings stand in sharp contrast to Wilsons own decisions, which have included turning off and halting the expansion of the citys CCTV surveillance program. They also follow the widely criticized response to the deadly Bite of Seattle mass shooting and the controversy surrounding Wilsons ouster of former Police Chief Shon Barnes, moves that have fueled perceptions of an administration out of step with public safety concerns.
Wilson, for her part, has attempted to brush aside the mounting evidence of voter discontent, downplaying the significance of the polling when questioned by reporters on Thursday. Anyone can do a poll, so people can look at the poll and interpret what they want. But my priority right now is delivering for the people of Seattle, she said, suggesting she intends to press ahead with her agenda despite the backlash.
The embattled mayor now faces not only collapsing approval ratings but also a formal recall effort that could cut her term short. A King County Superior Court hearing on the recall petition is scheduled for August 31 to determine whether the charges are legally sufficient to proceed, setting the stage for a potential showdown between Wilsons ideological project and a public increasingly demanding law, order, and accountability from City Hall.
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