Did Seattle voters just choose the 'status quo'? Depends on who you ask

Another election is in the books, and some might say Seattle didn’t really live up to its progressive reputation. But whether Seattle voters chose the "status quo" is up for interpretation.

Erica Barnett, editor and publisher of PubliCola, argues they did by electing former City Council President Bruce Harrell to be the next mayor. In doing so, she says voters chose four more years of current Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

RELATED: Nov. 2, 2021 election results

Political analyst and columnist Joni Balter disagrees with that assessment. She says Harrell ran against the city's hype-progressive modus operandi; she also points to "centrist" frontrunners Ann Davison for city attorney and Sara Nelson for City Council Position 9.

"Seattle voters do not at this moment want the activist agenda that has made Seattle unrecognizable to some people," Balter says.

As Barnett noted before the election, not everyone agrees with that image of the city, though.

"If you look back at the last four years, the policies that have been implemented have all been the same kind of policies that Bruce Harrell says he wants to continue," she says, arguing progressive activists have been hindered rather than empowered. "There is no far-left status quo in Seattle."

It seems Seattle, as a concept, is in the eyes of the beholder.

Listen to the full conversation by clicking the audio above.