Defund the police candidates stumble in liberal Seattle

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s downtown business community is celebrating as the moderate candidates it backed take commanding leads in the races for mayor, city attorney and a key council race over liberals who had called to defund the police. Tuesday’s election was vastly different from city contests two years ago, when business-backed candidates fared poorly against liberals who argued that huge companies like Amazon had too much sway in the Northwest’s largest city. It could be days before final margins are known due to Washington state’s all-mail ballot system. But the strong showing as of Wednesday by candidates who objected to the push to radically alter policing buoyed people who felt a different approach to public safety and homelessness was needed.