This year’s mayoral and city council races will be voters’ first referendum on policing in Seattle.
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A demonstrator raises his hands in the air while exclaiming “Hands Up, Don't Shoot” during protests across downtown Seattle, May 30, 2020. A wave of protests swept across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Police Officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department has been charged with murder in Floyd's killing. (Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut)
Seattle’s 2019 election was a referendum on many things — homelessness, housing, taxation, corporate influence — but policing was not on the list.
One month before voters cast their ballots in 2019 for seven of nine seats on the Seattle City Council, just 10% of registered voters said the police department was their top issue, while 70% named homelessness or housing, according to a Crosscut/Elway Poll at the time.