Progressives are making inroads in big-city mayoral races, giving the left flank a new shot in the arm as the Democratic Party faces an internal struggle over its future. 

Seattle community activist Katie Wilson surprised some political observers last week in finishing ahead of incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) in a nonpartisan blanket primary. Though Harrell, who is more moderate, will have the opportunity to win reelection to a second term in November, Wilson is currently almost 10 points ahead of him in the primary results, as of the latest vote count. 

Coming in the aftermath of Zohran Mamdani’s upset win in the New York City Democratic primary and as a left-wing challenger hopes to oust the current Minneapolis mayor, progressives are hoping it’s a sign of the tide turning in their favor. 

“Our hope is that there’s a real moment for progressives, for folks who want to see change or are upset with the status quo,” said Alex Gallo-Brown, Wilson’s campaign manager in an interview. 

The Democratic Party has spent months reevaluating its future in the aftermath of its losses last November and figuring out its direction ahead of the midterms. The party has experienced a battle for at least the past decade between its progressive and moderate wings for control of the party and the message pitched to voters. 

Finger-pointing followed former Vice President Harris’s loss in 2024, with progressives getting blame from more moderate Democrats for contributing to a perception of the party as too far left. Coupled with some high-profile defeats for progressive candidates in key congressional and local races in 2024, the progressive wing didn’t appear to be in a strong position entering this year. 

But progressives are much more optimistic now following results in some of the mayoral elections taking place this year in large cities. 

The first and biggest victory yet came with the surprise win from Mamdani, a New York State Assembly member backed by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), in the primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who touted progressive accomplishments while in office but ran as a moderate. 

Most public and even Mamdani-aligned polling didn’t show him leading ahead of the primary, but he outperformed expectations to win comfortably by double digits in the final round of the city’s ranked-choice tabulation. 

Meanwhile, another DSA-backed candidate is seeking to gain momentum in Minneapolis after winning the city party’s endorsement. Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh (D) won the endorsement last month over Mayor Jacob Frey (D), who is seeking his third term in office.

Though Frey is filing an appeal to the decision over what he argues was a flawed process, after significant technological issues, the development nonetheless underscores the proxy battle taking place in the city’s election. 

“This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual,” Fateh said in a post on X at the time. “It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us.” 

Most recently, Wilson took observers by surprise by finishing ahead of Harrell in the Seattle mayoral primary with about 51 percent of the vote to 41.4 percent for the incumbent mayor. The candidates will face off again in the November general election. 

Issues of affordability and public safety are playing key roles in the contest, as is the case for other large cities. 

Harrell has touted declining violent crime rates during his time as mayor and has pushed for increased hiring for the city’s police force. Wilson, who previously expressed sympathy for the “defund the police” movement but hasn’t called for it during her campaign, has criticized Harrell over rising costs of living and housing affordability, while arguing that armed officers aren’t needed to respond to mental health and other non-crime calls they receive. 

Gallo-Brown cast doubt on how much the public cares about “labels” as opposed to who will find solutions to their problems. 

“A lot of people, they kind of look at the Democratic Party or certain parts of it, and it’s just business as usual,” he said. “And so I think people like Katie, like Zohran, like other mayoral candidates around the country are showing people that another world is possible.” 

Harrell told The Hill in an interview that he wasn’t surprised by the results given the “angst” that voters expressed while his campaign conducted field work. He said he needs to remind voters that he’s been a “change agent” and helped turn the city around from the place it was in when he first took office, a time when the city was still coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and facing much higher levels of crime. 

“You don’t want to sacrifice a proven leader, just because there’s impressive-sounding rhetoric that seems to excite people,” he said. “The rhetoric will not get change done. It’s people who are capable and have done the work.” 

Some Democrats tempered expectations for the progressive challengers and argued that Minneapolis and Seattle’s races aren’t as directly comparable to New York City’s. 

Corey Day, a former executive director of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, pointed to the controversy surrounding the process that resulted in Fateh’s endorsement and Frey’s appeal, which could change the city party’s decision. He also said he doesn’t believe the endorsement will be as critical to determining the winner as it would be for some city council races. 

Day called Fateh’s candidacy a “significant challenge” to Frey but said he expects the incumbent to make clear their differences ahead of November. 

The election will be conducted by a ranked-choice process in which all candidates for the office compete on the same ballot. The race doesn’t have a primary, so no results on where voters stand will be available until the election happens. 

Frey also doesn’t have the controversies that Mamdani’s chief opponent, Cuomo, had to overcome in the New York race. 

“Once both of these candidates are spotlighted, and I think when they start talking about their policies and their records, it’s going to be pretty clear for voters that Jacob Frey is their choice,” Day said, arguing that Frey has also established his progressive bona fides. 

Ashik Siddique, a DSA co-chair, said voters are excited from candidates who show they’re willing to fight for working class voters, and these types of candidates can win even outside these cities if they hone their message and have discipline. 

“People are very motivated to see people like Zohran and Omar and others all over the country really standing up for clear economic demands that will address the ways people feel their day to day lives are getting worse, but also being able to confront the [Trump] administration when it’s scapegoating people,” he said.

DSA enthusiasm was on full display at its national convention this month following Mamdani’s win. 

DSA isn’t involved in the Seattle mayor’s race, and Wilson hasn’t run as a democratic socialist, but the race is still another example of progressives feeling bullish. 

Washington state Democratic strategist Ron Dotzauer said he expects the general election turnout to be much higher than that of the primary was, changing the electorate. He said the low turnout favored Wilson’s constituency and other more liberal candidates. 

Dotzauer said Wilson’s constituency is “ironclad,” so the onus will be on Harrell to capitalize on the increased voter turnout. 

“There’s a scenario for each of them to win, and I think it’s going to be very, very close,” he said. 

Harrell also argued that he has shown his progressive values in fighting to raise the minimum wage, setting an “aggressive” climate policy and raising taxes on the largest businesses. He also pointed to a key endorsement he received from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 

“When people start calling people names or labeling them, they’re not really looking at the hard work that’s been achieved,” he said. “And again, I’ll that story during the general, but I think that should resonate in the minds of most voters.”