Seattle’s “Great Debate” on Oct. 11 was anything but. My son and I joined more than 200 Seattle residents from all walks of life at the Washington Athletic Club, eager to hear candidates address the city’s most pressing concerns.
Sadly, what unfolded was not a spirited exchange of ideas. Instead, four progressive candidates were no-shows. City Council candidates Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster chose not to participate. Seattle City Attorney candidate Erika Evans was respectful to organizers and cited a schedule conflict. The biggest disappointment came at the end of the day from mayoral candidate Katie Wilson, who chose not to attend minutes before she was supposed to take the stage because she did not feel well. The irritation from the crowd of voters was audible.
Their empty seats spoke volumes and raised questions from attendees about their commitment to serving all Seattle’s voters.
As a mother of three and business owner, my days are filled with competing priorities. Nevertheless, I felt it was crucial to bring my oldest son, who will be eligible to vote next summer, to this event. It was a chance for him to hear different viewpoints, consider candidates’ records and reflect on the responsibility we all share as citizens: to vote not just for ourselves, but for those who will best advocate for the needs of our community at every level of government.
What we encountered, however, was the dysfunction in Seattle politics. My son’s questions echoed my own frustration: Why wouldn’t the candidates show up? If we could dedicate our day to civic engagement, why couldn’t they do the same for us? The excuses offered for their absences felt hollow and failed to address what it truly means to serve as a public official. The unwillingness to engage in meaningful discussion, combined with a focus on sound bites over substance, belies a lack of understanding of the affordability crisis affecting families across the city. If they can’t even bother to show up to discuss these issues, how can we ever expect them to solve them?
I want to extend my gratitude to the candidates — City Council President Sara Nelson, City Attorney Ann Davison, Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci — for attending and sharing their vision for Seattle and King County. Their willingness to engage gives me hope that real leadership can address the challenges we face.
This experience revealed to both me and my son that extremism is an epidemic that exists right here in our own city. The candidates’ failure to show up made me feel like we, as voters, were not worth their time. I don’t feel seen or represented. Moving more to the fringes is not the answer and alienates voters. It’s a reminder that if you don’t pledge allegiance to one side or the other, your voice is dismissed as irrelevant.
For a city that values inclusivity, it’s troubling to see how that ideal has shifted into something that feels increasingly exclusive.
The polarization we see in our local politics mirrors what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Both sides decry the other’s behavior while refusing to acknowledge how similar they’ve become. Until we, as citizens and leaders, are willing to look in the mirror and confront this truth, our democracy will continue to fracture, not from outside forces, but from our own unwillingness to meet in the middle.
