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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell made an appearance at Pier 62 to kick off the revitalized waterfront concert series, but not before taking the stage to rally the attendees around his overarching “One Seattle” goal, a sign that campaigning for the upcoming mayoral race is already underway.

“Spiritual, rhythmic, infinite, peaceful. You’re in for a treat. My wife and I are going to enjoy it with you,” Harrell said Monday night along Pier 62 before pivoting to politics. “One Seattle! We’re all here together to fight for the city. Fight against Trump. Fight for diversity. Fight for inclusion. Fight for LGBTQ+. Our values. We will fight, fight, fight. But tonight, we’re going to listen and come together as one. One Seattle!”

Eight other candidates have announced their intention to run for mayor in Seattle. Joe Mallahan, a former T-Mobile executive, is taking a second swing at running for Seattle mayor, while Katie Wilson, the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union, has raised the second-most money, trailing only the incumbent Harrell.

The other candidates are Ry Armstrong, a transgender community organizer and labor leader; Joe Malloy, a homeless man who wants to confront the homeless crisis; Thaddeus Whelan, an Army veteran and a project management analyst for the FAA; Clinton Bliss, a medical doctor; Isaiah Willoughby, a former protestor who was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for starting a fire outside a police presinct during CHOP; and Alexander Barickman, according to .

John Curley weighs in on Harrell’s re-election bid

“Vote for me! Vote for me! I hate Trump,” ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ host John Curley mockingly said. “That’s the first time he’s been in public where he’s spoken out since a bunch of folks that don’t believe in First Amendment rights, if you’re a Christian, disrupted (an event), and then they had the big thing at City Hall on Tuesday. Hadn’t heard from the mayor.” (The mayor attended and provided remarks at a Pride Month flag raising event last Saturday, per the Office of Mayor Bruce Harrell. He also attended a 5k Run on the Waterfront the morning before the concert, while his office has provided several statements to media, including to ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio)

Curley was referencing when counterprotestors stormed a Christian group’s rally two weekends ago in Cal Anderson Park, leading to multiple arrests. Russell Johnson, the lead pastor at Pursuit NW, the church that held the event, stated that Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell should resign after the disruption and his subsequent comments that insulted the church. The church held a rally at City Hall the following Tuesday, which was met with more counterprotesters.

“Russell Johnson said, ‘Hey, we want the mayor to resign or want him to apologize.’ We hadn’t heard anything,” Curley said. “So the mayor comes out, he shows up at this concert, and then does, ‘Fight, fight, fight,’ quoting Donald Trump when he was nearly assassinated, and just basically getting a chance to throw some red meat at people. ‘Hey, vote for me. I hate Trump. You hate Trump.’ We’re all about inclusion, except if you don’t have the same values we have, which is we don’t really respect you. If you happen to be Christian, then you’re a fascist.”

If Harrell is re-elected as mayor, he would become Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels in 2009.

Listen to the full conversation here.

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