By H. Stuart Elway / Crosscut.com
Republished with permission
Bruce Harrell
Bruce Harrell is off to an encouraging start in just over 100 days as mayor, according to the latest Crosscut/Elway poll. In a recent poll, Seattle voters were twice as encouraged (40%) as frustrated (19%) when they saw the new mayor so far.
41% of the plural did not form an opinion. It’s still early.
Homelessness is the most commonly used criterion for evaluating new mayors. More than a third (36%) were encouraged by his performance, citing Harrell’s concerns or handling of homelessness as the reason they were encouraged. On the other hand, nearly half (48%) of discouraged poll respondents also cited his attitude toward homelessness as the main reason for their assessment.
It’s no surprise that homelessness is the standard by which mayors are judged. In our last September poll, 48% of voters voluntarily made it their number one priority for the next mayor. About 23 percent of Harrell supporters said at the time that his stance on homelessness was the reason they voted for him, making it the number one reason for supporting him. Among supporters of his campaign opponent, Lorena González, 11 percent said her stance on homelessness was the reason they supported her.
In the survey, voters inspired by Harrell’s work outnumbered those who were discouraged so far in every demographic category except those under 35, though opinions are not uniform. In some ways, the pattern of responses to Harrell reflects the familiar new Seattle, old Seattle political fault line. Older and more mature voters are by far the most likely to be inspired by what they are seeing.
Positive responses rose with age, length of time in the city, income, homeownership and attention to city news. Younger, less mature voters tend to have a positive view of the mayor, but are also less likely to have any opinion.
So far, only 21 percent of those 35 and younger have a positive opinion of the mayor, compared with 61 percent of those 65 and older. Thirty-three percent of those who have been in Seattle for 20 years or less say they are encouraged by Harrell’s performance to date, while 50 percent of those with longer tenures rate him positively .
Significant differences also emerged between people based on whether they said they had experienced crime in their vicinity.
Of those who reported crime in their neighborhood, 45% were encouraged and 33% were not.
The type of voters who put Harrell in office are also the most inspiring they have seen. Because in the early days of his administration, these responses may still reflect hopes and observations. “Encourage” is not the same as “support,” but it’s a step in that direction.
With four in 10 voters waiting to see what Harrell does before forming an opinion, his next steps will be crucial.
