King County assessor says he won't resign amid stalking allegation scandal

King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson is refusing to step down or suspend his campaign for county executive. A number of elected officials have called for him to leave office after news broke Thursday of his ex-fiancee filing her second restraining order against him in a year.

Wilson, a Democrat, told KUOW via text on Thursday night that he won’t leave public life. But he didn’t deny the allegations laid out in court filings. Wilson said that his lawyer is reviewing what he calls “significant issues” in the restraining order.

RELATED: 'Stormy' relationship or stalking? King County assessor faces resignation calls over restraining order

Wilson’s ex-fiancee, Lee Keller, filed a restraining order against him this month after she said she broke up with him in April and he kept contacting her and her family members. Previous filings from Keller allege Wilson has tracked her location in the past, once showing up to an address she’d refused to share with him and forcing his way in to kiss her.

Wilson insisted in emails to KUOW that the “stormy” relationship “continues” and claimed that Keller will withdraw her restraining order. He also said the two have spent time together as recently as last week.

At least eight local Democrats and the county Democratic party have called for Wilson to resign, including the mayor of Seattle, the interim county executive, a state senator, and five county councilmembers — two of whom are running against Wilson for county executive.

County councilmember Claudia Balducci said she would request that the entire county council censure or formally reprimand Wilson, and for the county ombuds to investigate whether he used county resources to stalk or harass his ex-fiance. County Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay, Rod Dembowski, Teresa Mosqueda and Jorge Barón called for Wilson's resignation. (Balducci and Zahilay are running for executive against Wilson.)

Barón called Wilson to tell him "under the circumstances, he cannot effectively carry out his duties on behalf of our residents," he posted on X.

But it’s not clear what impact this political fallout may have. Even if he wanted to, it would be too late for Wilson to get his name off the August primary ballot. The deadline to remove a candidate from the ballot passed weeks ago, and ballots will start being mailed overseas in three weeks.

“If elected County Executive, Wilson would oversee the county law enforcement, including the sheriff's office that is responsible for helping to protect survivors like her [Keller], as well as budgets that help survivors with critical resources,” State Senator Manka Dhingra said in a Thursday press conference calling for Wilson’s resignation.

Wilson isn’t considered likely to win the county executive position. He has only raised about $65,000, compared to over half a million each for the two frontrunners, Zahilay and Balducci.

As county assessor, Wilson’s elected position doesn’t serve under the county executive or council: He was elected by voters, and wouldn’t be up for reelection until next year.

“There are a series of escalating steps,” Balducci said at the Thursday press conference in response to KUOW’s question about what she would do if Wilson didn’t resign. “We can formally act to censure an elected official, which is a statement of reprimand, essentially, but the only way to remove an elected official from office … is to go through the recall process.”

That would require gathering signatures and a judge finding that there is sufficient evidence Wilson’s conduct is interfering with his official duties.

"Balducci is just playing politics with this," Wilson texted KUOW. "Shame on her."

Mary Ellen Stone, the former CEO of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, said in the Thursday press conference that the charges outlined against Wilson would be unacceptable for anyone, but especially an elected official.

“We know that survivors often feel invisible and dismissed, and we also know, though, that public acknowledgement of the impact of sexual assault or domestic violence really can be validating,” Stone said. “It helps people feel that they're not alone.”

A previous version of this story misstated the year the county assessor will appear on the ballot, as well as Stone's job status with the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center. The story has been updated to reflect Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda calling on Wilson to resign.