SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s police chief resigned Thursday amid criticism that the city was slow to release key information about a fatal shootout at a food festival last weekend.
Mayor Katie Wilson's announcement followed hours of speculation about whether Police Chief Shon Barnes would step down, as some of his supporters said he had rebuffed Wilson’s request to resign.
Wilson said she was appointing Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, a law enforcement veteran with more than two decades of experience, as interim chief.
Barnes told The Seattle Times earlier Thursday that whether he remained as chief was “up to the mayor.” He said he was off for the day and spending time with family.
In a written statement, the mayor said she was grateful for Barnes' service. The statement included comments in which Barnes called it an honor to have served the city.
“I hope this transition gives the city and this department the opportunity to return full focus to what matters most, addressing youth gun violence and preventing more tragedies,” Barnes said.
Barnes was out of town at a law enforcement conference when gunfire erupted last weekend at the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day festival that draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers. Three people, including one suspect, were killed, and four people were wounded. One of the injured was a 2-year-old boy.
Dozens of officers were at the event, and at least one saw a 15-year-old suspect firing into a crowd and quickly persuaded him to surrender, according to court documents. Police are still searching for at least one other person.
While Wilson credited the quick police response with potentially saving lives, she acknowledged that the city was slow to communicate in the aftermath.
After an initial social media post announcing the shooting, it took nearly five hours for police to provide any additional information to the public, including whether there was any ongoing threat. The city also failed to send out any notifications through its emergency alert system. In the meantime Wilson announced that two people had been taken into custody, a statement she later retracted.
Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis finally provided an update around 11 p.m. Sunday during a news conference that was also attended by the mayor, Gov. Bob Ferguson and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
“What I did not fully understand in that moment was how little information had reached the public or the press since the incident began at 6 p.m.,” Wilson said in a video statement Thursday. “Had I known that, I would have pushed for an immediate briefing, rather than waiting for a press conference to be organized.”
Barnes was the second Black police chief in Seattle.
Several Black community organizations, including the Seattle NAACP and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, rallied to try to save his job Thursday. In an open letter to the mayor's office, they credited him with improving relations between the department and the community, helping reduce gun violence and strengthening the department's operations.
“Chief Barnes should not be made a scapegoat for the complex challenges of public safety,” the letter said.
At least six City Council members issued statements supporting Barnes. A statement signed by four of them pointed out that the city has had four chiefs in less than three years.
“Our priority must be stability, not further disruption,” it said.
Barnes was appointed by Seattle's previous mayor, Bruce Harrell, in December 2024 after serving as chief of the Madison, Wisconsin, police department.
When Wilson — a democratic socialist who once supported defunding police — won the mayor's race last year, she kept Barnes on as chief. That was a signal to the city's business establishment and community groups that she did not intend to take a radically different approach to public safety.
“Seattle had been on a positive course on public safety with police hiring trending up and crime trending down,” Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, said in an emailed statement. “It’s imperative the next chief of police is able to maintain progress that’s been made and instill confidence in our community.”
Barnes faced some criticism for spending time in Chicago, where his family lives. Sgt. Patrick Michaud, a department spokesperson, said Thursday that Barnes has made four trips to Chicago this year and spent in total about 18 days traveling there.
The resignation comes as Seattle heads into another big festival weekend. Seafair Weekend Festival 2026 — a boating event, air show and festival — starts Friday.
With a backdrop of the Space Needle, candles are seen lighted during the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, center, and Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, left, attend the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic candidates made up significant ground among key demographic groups in the 2026 midterms, according to The AP Voter Poll, reversing many of the gains President Donald Trump made with the traditional Democratic coalition in the 2024 presidential election.
The AP Voter Poll, a sweeping survey of more than 100,000 voters in all 50 states, showed that young voters swung sharply left. Democratic candidates’ performance among voters under 30 this year far exceeded the support this group gave Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 AP VoteCast survey.
Hispanic voters, who shifted toward Trump in 2024 as well, moved toward Democrats this year, as did Black voters – particularly Black men. Many Moderates— who overwhelmingly said Congress was not doing enough to put checks and balances on the presidency — backed Democratic candidates nationally and were important for Democratic victories in several key Senate races.
And as most voters said inflation had caused them and their family at least “moderate” hardship over the past year, voters with a 2025 household income of less than $50,000 also shifted away from Republicans, compared to 2024.
Here is how five key demographic groups moved in the 2026 election, according to The AP Voter Poll:
After relatively high support for Trump in the 2024 election, young voters snapped back toward the Democratic Party in this year’s midterms.
The AP Voter Poll showed about 7 in 10 voters under 30 nationally said they supported the Democratic candidate in their local U.S. House race, while about 3 in 10 said they voted for the Republican. That was a dramatic shift from 2024, when the youngest voters were roughly split between Trump and Harris.
Most first-time midterm voters, who skew younger, also mostly supported the Democratic candidate.
Both young voters and first-time voters made up a fairly small share of voters. Only about 1 in 10 voters in the 2026 national electorate are under 30, for instance, which limited the impact of the shift.
But young voters’ displeasure with the country and its leadership was clear. About half of young voters said they were “angry” about the way things were going in the country today, compared with only about one-third of voters ages 65 and older. And about 6 in 10 voters under 30 said one reason for their vote for the U.S. House was to express opposition to Trump, compared to about half of voters ages 30-44, and about 4 in 10 voters ages 45 and older.
Young voters shifted toward the Democrats in each of the Senate races where the Democratic Party picked up a seat, including in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina.
Republicans appeared to lose most — if not all — of Trump's gains with Hispanic voters in 2024.
Only about one-third of Hispanic voters say they backed the Republican in their local U.S. House race, while roughly 4 in 10 voted for Trump two years ago. About 6 in 10 Hispanic voters nationally say they voted for the Democratic candidate in their local House race.
This shift was evident in the Texas Senate race that Democrat James Talarico won over Republican Ken Paxton. The AP Voter Poll showed roughly 6 in 10 Hispanic voters in the Texas Senate race supported Talarico, while only about 3 in 10 voted for Paxton. The group was more closely split between Trump and Harris in the 2024 presidential election, according to AP VoteCast.
And even in the Florida Senate race, where Republican Sen. Ashley Moody managed to narrowly win reelection, less than half of Hispanic voters supported Moody, while Trump definitively won this group two years earlier.
Black voters, particularly Black men, were another group where Trump’s 2024 gains didn’t stick.
Only about 1 in 10 Black men voters nationally backed the Republican candidate in their local U.S. House race, down from the roughly one-quarter who supported Trump in the last presidential election, according to AP VoteCast. About 9 in 10 Black voters supported the Democratic House candidate, up from the roughly 8 in 10 who cast their ballot for Harris.
These shifts were particularly important in some major races. Black men shifted significantly in the Georgia race for governor, where Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected as a governor. About 9 in 10 Black men voted for Bottoms, according to The AP Voter Poll. Only about three-quarters supported Harris in 2024.
About 9 in 10 Black women supported Bottoms, roughly the same share that supported Harris.
Republican Byron Donalds, who was elected Florida’s first Black governor, did not have the same level of success with Black voters. About one-quarter of Black men in the state voted for Donalds over Democrat David Jolly, while only about 1 in 10 Black women supported Donalds.
Democrats increased their support with moderate voters, particularly in key Senate races where Democrats flipped Republican-held seats.
Roughly two-thirds of moderates supported the Democratic candidate in their local U.S. House race, an uptick from the approximately 6 in 10 moderate voters who backed Harris.
A large majority of moderate voters, about 8 in 10, said Congress was not doing enough to provide checks and balances on the presidency, and a similarly high share said they had experienced at least a “moderate” hardship in the past year because of inflation.
Many Democratic candidates in key Senate upset races benefitted from significant moderate support. In Kansas, for instance, Democrat Adam Hamilton won about 7 in 10 moderate voters, a substantial rise from the roughly half that Harris won in 2024.
In Iowa, there was a similar pattern as Democrat Josh Turek won about two-thirds of moderates, up from about half for Harris.
And in North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper won about three-quarters of moderates, improving on the slimmer majority that backed Harris.
In a year when economic concerns drove many voters' choices, the AP Voter Poll found lower-income voters shifted toward the Democrats.
More than half of voters with a 2025 household income under $50,000 voted for the Democratic candidate in their local U.S. House race. These voters were about evenly split between Trump and Harris in 2024. About 3 in 10 U.S. voters nationally report having a family income that falls under $50,000 each year.
The survey suggests that these voters were more likely than voters with a higher income to say they were concerned about the cost of food and groceries, gas prices and utilities. About 6 in 10 voters with a household income under $50,000 said the cost of living was “crucial” to their vote, compared to about half of voters who earned $50,000 or more.
The AP Voter Poll is a survey of more than 100,000 voters conducted by SSRS for The Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News Media, NBC News and Versant. The survey blends probability-based and non probability-based interviews with registered voters in all 50 states conducted from Oct. 19 to Nov. 3 in Alaska and Oct. 22 to Nov. 3 in all other states. A detailed methodology statement is available here. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 0.6 percentage points for the full sample.
Sophia Umbreit watches election returns before Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed arrives at a Michigan Democratic Party election night event, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Dillard University student Destiny Allen shows off her voting sticker after voting on campus on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Texans cheer as a crowd gathers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin to celebrate the results of the election, early Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
