Lost City: Seattle Mayor Opposes Jail Sentences for Repeat Criminals

The current Seattle Mayor is the less progressive candidate on the ballot this November. His opponent is running to his left. 

Keep that in mind as you read this essay. 

NEW: Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell says no jail for 8-time offender, wants to learn their life story

Click: https://t.co/Bysewy6Qx0

— Jason Rantz on Seattle Red (@jasonrantz) October 3, 2025

He and his opponent held a debate last night, and when asked what his opinion about what should be done with repeat offenders, his proposed solution is to sit down and listen to the sob story of the criminal. 

I kid you not. He objects to putting the perp in jail because he probably had a tough go of it as a child. It never occurs to it that allowing criminals to run rampant in his city might mean that many others will have a tough go of it right now because of such insane policies. 

During Thursday night’s mayoral debate, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said he wouldn’t jail aneight-time convicted offender and would rather learn about that person’s life story.

Faced with a shockingly high number of prolific offenders severely harming the city of Seattle’s quality of life, Harrell’s comment was one of the most jaw-dropping, tone-deaf moments I’ve ever seen from a sitting mayor—and that bar is already subterranean in this city.

Harrell delivered the kind of response that makes you wonder if he even lives in the same city the rest of us do.

No jail time for eight-time repeat criminal

The moderator asked Harrell a fairly simple question: “If somebody has offended six, seven, eight times, even if it’s a minor offense, but they continue to fail to turn their life around, at what point do you balance public safety to giving this person some accountability?”

Harrell gave a stunning response. Instead of addressing accountability for an eight-time offender, Harrell waxed poetic about learning their “life story.” He openly declared, “I have no desire to put them in jail”

“When this person is committing six or seven crimes, I don’t know his or her story. Maybe they were abused as a child. Maybe they’re hungry. But my my remedy is to find their life story to see how we can help. First, I have no desire to put them in jail, but I need to protect you, and that’s the calibration that we have,” he explained. “I put police officers on the stand. I’ve cross examined them. So whether they commit seven or eight crimes, to me, is not the issue. The issue is, why are they committing these crimes? And so we have a health based strategy.”

“Health-based strategy.” WTF does that even mean? Hand the guy some aspirin? Or is there a magic drug that gives the perp a nicer back story and an inclination to cure cancer? We are reliably told that every illegal immigrant in the world is a genius inventor or a research biologist, so perhaps the same is true of felons if only they were given proper “health” care. 

Somebody who has committed multiple crimes is a…criminal. That is their primary job. They don’t do it because they are living the life of Oliver Twist, needing more gruel; they are bad guys. 

And, if they truly need more care and attention, it’s pretty clear they aren’t getting it on the streets. Separating them from society seems like a good first step, and if you can find a program that reduces recidivism, more power to you. But implement it while they are segregated from their victims. 

Notice who Harrell says he has cross-examined–the police, not the criminals. He has a lower opinion of the police, whose job it is to protect the citizens Harrell represents, than of the criminals terrorizing those citizens. 

Seattle doesn’t tend to re-elect its mayors, so it is likely that Harrell will be replaced with an even worse candidate. Mayors seem to resign or get kicked out on a regular basis, although perhaps Harrell will break the curse. 

🗳️ FINAL RESULTS: Seattle Mayor 🗳️

Progressive challenger Katie Wilson leads incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell by 9.54% and received a majority of the primary vote.

A Seattle mayor has not been reelected since 2005. #waelex pic.twitter.com/gsPImazPP8

— Washington State Mapper (@WApolwatch) August 28, 2025

It doesn’t look so hot for him, though. So expect an even more progressive whack job to take over next year. 

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.