Seattle mayor recall effort: Court date set to decide merit

Joseph O’Sullivan, The Seattle Times on Aug 19, 2026

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SEATTLE — A court hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 31 in the recall effort against Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.

Last week, a Seattle couple filed paperwork to recall Wilson over her handling of public safety. That filing is the first of several steps needed before a recall effort can move forward. Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud cited the mayor’s handling of the Bite of Seattle shooting that killed three people; persistent crime around downtown, Aurora Avenue and the Chinatown International District; and a decision to turn off CCTV cameras after the World Cup.

The hearing will take place at 9 a.m. Aug. 31 in King County Superior Court, according to the King County prosecuting attorney’s office.

In an email, Wilson spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg said the mayor has retained Dmitri Iglitzin as counsel.

“Our focus remains where it belongs: on making life safer and more affordable for the people of Seattle,” Schellenberg wrote. “Since the Mayor took office, we’re delivering meaningful progress, expanding community crisis responder hours, accelerating shelter expansion, launching universal school meals this September, banning rental junk fees, expanding transit, investing in our libraries, and taking on unfair pricing at grocery stores. That work continues.”

The hearing — which is open to the public — will determine whether the acts stated in the recall charges meet the criteria for a recall petition, defined by state law as “malfeasance,” “misfeasance” or a violation of an oath of office.

“Both Mayor Wilson and the people who filed the civil charges, Jacobson and Osterud, can participate in the hearing to address the allegations — but neither is required to,” prosecuting attorney’s office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said.

In a recall, the prosecuting attorney’s office is a neutral party, and neither it nor King County Elections participates in the hearing. For the recall effort to move forward, a judge must decide if the charges meet the legal threshold.

If the judge approves, recall supporters will then have 180 days to gather signatures for a recall election — in this case, the effort would need roughly 69,000 eligible signatures. If King County Elections determines that enough verified signatures have been collected, a recall election would then be conducted.

A person filing recall charges must demonstrate that the official in question has violated their oath of office or committed acts of malfeasance or misfeasance — a legal threshold that is generally considered a high bar.

In 2022, recall charges were filed against then-Gov. Jay Inslee by a group over his use of emergency powers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. A Thurston County court and the state Supreme Court ruled against the recall effort.

In 2020, the state Supreme Court shot down a recall effort against then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan after the Seattle Police Department’s use of tear gas following protests over police brutality in the wake of the George Floyd killing. Before the state’s high court nixed it, a King County court had allowed the recall to move forward on narrower grounds than the original charges.

Former Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant survived a recall election in 2021 after a judge allowed it to move forward.

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