(The Center Square) – Poll results released Thursday show Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s favorability is quickly declining.
The poll released by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce shows that Wilson’s popularity has fallen sharply since April, dropping from 57% to 37% by early August.
Pollster Andrew Thibault of the Fulcrum Strategy Group, which conducted the analysis, said what is unique about the results is growing disfavor with Wilson after just seven months in office.
“It’s really unusual that her honeymoon period has been so short,” he said in an interview with The Center Square.
Thibault said the 20% drop in her favorability rating is due to public safety issues.
“Voters view public safety as the core responsibility of mayors, and when they are not feeling confident about public safety, it’s such a visceral issue, they react quickly,” he said.
Thibault said few issues cause such a reaction with voters as does public safety.
Wilson did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday, but previously has defended her public safety efforts citing overall declines in the city’s crime rate in her first months in office.
Fulcrum released the first part of its poll of 500 registered voters on Monday, finding a lack of confidence in Wilson’s public safety plan, including her pause on expanding the city of Seattle’s surveillance camera program.
Only 34% of voters surveyed said they were confident that city leadership currently has an effective public-safety plan.
The poll of 500 voters taken between Aug. 10-13 came after the July 26 shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival that left three dead and four injured.
The aftermath of the shooting resulted in questions about why a press conference about the shooting took five hours to be held and what the mayor’s role was in the delay.
Former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes also resigned after being asked to do so by Wilson following the shooting, raising controversy with Wilson never saying exactly why she lost favor with the police chief.
The lack of surveillance cameras at the Seattle Center food festival site also reopened questions about Wilson’s pause of the surveillance camera program in March.
The same poll asked voters about their overall satisfaction with Wilson, but those results were not released until Thursday.
“These results reflect the concerns of people who love Seattle and urgently want their city to be safer, stronger and more effective,” said Joe Nguyễn, president and CEO of the Seattle Metro Chamber, in a news release issued with the latest poll numbers.
“Our employer community wants to work alongside Mayor Wilson and her administration to help them succeed.”
The new poll showed Wilson retained her biggest support among progressive voters, though it has dropped 17 percentage points to 72% from April.
Wilson, a self-described democratic socialist, narrowly beat incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell last November.
Wilson is also facing the potential of a recall campaign after a North Seattle couple, Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud, filed a recall petition against Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on Aug. 11.
The petitioners accuse the mayor of being derelict in her duties regarding public safety issues in Seattle.
A hearing on the merits of the petition is scheduled for Aug. 31 in King County Superior Court.