The election for Mayor of Seattle shows little hope of being resolved in a timely matter. Today’s ballot drop reveals that a small 515-vote lead puts Mike McGinn narrowly ahead of Joe Mallahan. From yesterday’s results, that is a net 53-vote gain for McGinn out of more than 25,000 ballots counted since then.
Mayor of Seattle
Mike McGinn – 65,172 – 49.78%
Joe Mallahan – 64,657 – 49.38%
The common wisdom on election day that McGinn was an underdog, but his grassroots campaign had a noticeably better ground game and a stronger get out to vote operation that is likely contributing to his impressive showing. Transit advocates should be pleasantly surprised by McGinn’s continuing fortune — Seattle Transit Blog endorsed him earlier in the general election season after Mayor Nickels was ousted in the primary.
Publicola reports that some 4,700 county ballots have been dropped due to signature discrepancies. (We remind people to check that their ballot was processed and be sure to return calls from the King County elections department.) These ballots could be party to any dispute between the campaigns if the election remains this tight. Speaking of, the King County Votes blog has an entry about the statues regarding automatic recounts of tight elections.
The final drop of the week will be posted tomorrow at 4:30 pm according to the King County elections website, but it’s unlikely we’ll be able to find out who our next Mayor is for quite some time.
Could you cite some sources of that “common wisdom”? Because that’s not what I’ve seen from the mainstream at all.
The fact is that no one particularly knew or cared about either candidate – one of the reasons for the very low voter numbers this year.
And McGinn papered the city with anti-Viaduct flyers – not especially “grass roots” behavior.
Yes, I agree – this election just shows that the people of Seattle had no idea which of these two to go with and felt comfortable with neither of them. Did you notice that there were around 1,000 write in votes counted so far – I bet those were for Greg Nickels for whatever its worth. Fortunately, at the County level, voters went with experience over maverickness.
What experience does Mallahan have, exactly? And don’t tell me he’s a Vice President for T-Mobile. Sarah Palin was Governor. The title doesn’t mean a thing – what did he do? What were the results he achieved that make the fact that he worked for some corporation worth a damn? The only thing he’s said concretely is he’s the “vice president of customer delight” (which made me wonder when T-Mobile got a brothel division) except . . . the BBB gave T-Mobile Northwest an F. Not a lot to inspire confidence there.
In comparison, I can list about half a dozen things that McGinn has done to directly improve this city just off the top of my head. Concrete results as opposed to empty rhetoric.
You don’t like the dude’s style? That’s fine. But can we stop having this false debate about experience? Pretty please?
I wasn’t referring to Mallahan but to Dow Constantine. I don’t think that Mallahan has any more experience than Mike does, but at least Mike has a little more community involvement under his belt.
Whoever wins this can easily prove me wrong and I will be more than happy to admit it.
In other words, the city is full of a bunch of Tim Whittomes? I think you’re applying your personal views to an entire city.
I couldn’t even imagine Seattle full of folks like me!! Awful thought, but then again, parts of the city might look cleaner as I am always picking up trash in Seattle:) I probably wouldn’t have voted for either of them and left that part of the ballot blank. You don’t have to vote for everyone and everything on the ballot. I ignored about 20% of the ballot – who really cares other than the winner who is County Assessor? That shouldn’t even be an elected position in my opinion, anymore than electing judges or police chiefs should be – it leaves the process open to taint and possible corruption.
who really cares other than the winner who is County Assessor?
Anyone who pays property tax ought to damn well care! An appointed position would be beholden to the County Council and Executive that pick them. I can see there being a lot more potential for corruption in that. Police Chief isn’t elected in Seattle and I’d agree that the Sheriff should likewise be an appointment. Elections commisioner could be appointed.
I posted before that I’d rather see the county use a Council – Manager arrangement than an elected representative. But then I think Triplett’s done a more responsible job of managing than any of our recently elected Executives since he’s not trying to buy votes.
Judges maybe if they were subject to a review of the entire State house and senate. I wouldn’t want them to be a payback perk for campaign support.
I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that over 50% turnout on an odd-numbered year is low.
Well its not great Ben whatever way one looks at it given that we’re talking about the leadership of a major city.
If you look around at mayoral elections for other major cities you’ll find nothing low about 50%-%57% turnout in an odd-numbered year.
Correct, according to the New York Times today, hardly anyone bothers to vote in New York! It wasn’t even that high for last November’s historic election of President Obama.
How about them Hoosiers? – Transit proposal crashes and burns
And you guys complain about the eastside :-)
How about the fact that Mallahan polled well ahead of McGinn (by double digits) after the primary, not more than 45 days ago. He was still ahead in public opinion polling within two weeks of the election. Strangely enough, the polling difference began to close after the City Council voted on the DBT agreement and McGinn announced he would abbrogate the will of the council. Turns out to have been a nifty political change of stance in the end, even if he doesn’t win because it certainly made this race far closer than it appeared it would be.
Your “low turnout” assertion is flat wrong.
Finally, how is posting flyers grass-roots or not grass roots?
ugh “…NOT abbrogate the will of the council.”
Perhaps we should just go ahead and have both of them–serving six months a year each….
I was thinking that as well – Seattle has not made up its mind between these two and for good reason too. Which of the two is more likely to keep the streets clear during any snow? Neither the pro nor anti tunnel camp is going to come away with much satisfaction from this election and because Mike changed some of his mind towards the end of the election, now he can’t claim that if he wins it will be because an overwhelming majority hated the tunnel. We simply won’t know really how many folks felt they could go with him in the end because he did change his mind. Similarly, Joe Mallahan if he wins won’t be able to claim overwhelming acceptance of the tunnel, but if he does win, I think it will indicate some sort of acceptance that we should move forward with what has been agreed. Mike, if he wins, won’t be able to claim he has a mandate to stop the thing, so this election will not have achieved too much either way.
The STB board may well have made its endorsement, but it is clear that there is not any unanimity amongst the rest of us ‘transit folks’ that they went with the right horse or dog in this race.
On the plus side, Dow Constantine should level our fears with a steady hand at the tiller of King County government. A Susan Hutchinson-Mike McGinn combo could have been a recipe for chaos, so we should be grateful that one hand at least should be calm and steady.
“Which of the two is more likely to keep the streets clear during any snow?”
Seriously, man, quit jumping the shark.
Also, I don’t know how you can be into transit and not be into McGinn. That just doesn’t make any sense.
What does that mean – “quit jumping the shark”?
Look, I am not into either of these guys, but am happy for either of them to prove me wrong. I don’t think that mass transit options are going to collapse with either one in charge, but I do think that Mike offers more of a confrontational stance towards Olympia than Mallahan does and this may not prove constructive to moving things forwards.
We can easily be into mass transit and not follow either of these guys or follow just one or other of them.
I can’t see how anyone who is actively “pro-transit” would support Mallahan,
When asked in the last debate how he would improve transit Mallahan said that he wouldn’t fund the first avenue streetcar but didn’t offer anything he would support in its place. It is hard to be less supportive of transit than that in a Seattle election.
James and Jim
I haven’t endorsed either guy – they are both flawed in different ways. McGinn is obstructionist on the tunnel and Mallahan on guns in parks and on other issues of importance such as mass transit.
This isn’t necessarily going to be change we can believe in – that’s all.
“Jumping the shark” is a colloquial expression that you’ve done or said something that kills your credibility. I think picking snow response as a reason you’re sad Nickels is gone is probably what did it.
I think it’s possible for a pro-transit person to support Mallahan. You just have to prioritize other things — in Tim’s case, moving forward on the tunnel.
Which of the two is more likely to keep the streets clear during any snow?
You realize that we won’t see the amounts of snow we had last year for at least another decade right?
I feel like the only person in Seattle who looked at last year’s snow event as a total non-issue. It snows and cities shutdown. This happens all up and down the East Coast every year and it is never treated as a referendum on a Mayor’s performance.
Well, except for old Mayor Bilandic in Chicago.
I’ve never understood the whole “Bilandicked” thing. That was an epic storm for Metro-Chi.
All the machinery in the world won’t magically make dealing with record snow falls any easier. As a point-of-reference, I grew up in Florida… so it is not like I’m hardened for snow events. After living in Northeast US for almost a decade I realized that removing greater than average amounts of snow from a metro-region apparently isn’t a solved problem.
Me neither, really. But I never complained, because without the storm we might never have gotten Jane Byrne, and without Jane Byrne we might never have gotten Harold Washington. So if the storm brought us Harold, God love the storm.
Yes, I agree on the snow, but for many businesses and folks unused to seeing so much of it, it didn’t help that the City didn’t clear the streets with much alacrity or that Metro didn’t know what it was doing or supposed to do.
Tim–Generally, you’ve got a nice record as a commenter here, but I wonder if this mayoral election hasn’t slipped you a mickey; you don’t make much sense when commenting on this race.
“Seattle has not made up its mind between these two and for good reason too….” And your comment below on the STB endorsement is borders on doddering.
So what? In the end, the guy with more votes wins; the extent of the victory is irrelevant to anything other than their ability to proclaim a mandate. But as we already know, McGinn announced he is unwilling to abbrogate the will of the council on the DBT, and what do you know? As soon as that news hit the fan, his polling numbers began to close on Mallahan.
Thanks David
You’re probably right and yes, I have talked to a therapist about it, but in fairness, I come from a political system in the UK where things like a primary would be an anathema to the two main parties over there – Conservative and Labour. Essentially, the two parties choose who they want to represent them in the election and if ordinary voters want some input into the decision making, they have to become party members and join their local constituency party. If I was to translate this over to the system here, I do believe it is fair to point out that whilst Mike McGinn probably would have had a chance at ousting Greg Nickels as the Democratic party’s preferred nominee for the mayoral election and Joe Mallahan almost certainly would not have had such a chance or been considered as the nominee, it is also fair to mention that in all likelihood the local party would have stuck with Greg Nickels and rallied behind him. As of course did the STB board for the primary.
Tony Blair was unpopular as was Mrs Thatcher in her time, but neither one would have been dumped by their local constituency. In the UK, you have one chance to get rid of someone you don’t like – a choice made by the electorate at large in a general election, but here, you have two chances to get rid of the same guy which seems inefficient at best and mean at worst.
Now I can see Mike McGinn’s appeal to most writers and comentators here and yes, I am sure the guy will ultimately win this election for mayor, but it doesn’t look like either one will win conclusively or be able to claim a strong mandate for anything very much. Mike would have O’Brien as his main ally on the Seattle Council, Joe would have seven of the remaining eight and Licata will not be beholden to either one as per usual.
Other than that, David, you are probably right that I have gone a little awry in my thinking but I have lots of pain in my life right now and the primary for Seattle just put me over the edge. Come January, I hope to have recovered some degree of quiet again.
“Transit advocates should be pleasantly surprised by McGinn’s continuing fortune — Seattle Transit Blog endorsed him early in the election season.”
Don’t try to make yourselves look better than you are. Early in the election season you endorsed Greg Nickels, only to switch your endorsement to McGinn after Nickels lost.
Yes, that irritates me more than anything else in this saga – it was if the current mayor never existed. I still believe that the STB Board didn’t analyze the ramifications of Mayor Nickels losing nearly as much as they should have but switched to McGinn with nary a whisper of dissent!
What exactly were they supposed to do? He lost and was thus barred from the resulting election. The adult thing to do was move on and look at the remaining field. Should they have turned STB into a multi-week tribute to Nickels? Sorry but as far as the future of Seattle is concerned Nickels will soon be history and it is short sighted and frankly a waste to spend too much time lamenting his loss. The saddest part of this Saga is folks who can’t let go of Nickels and see that choices matter even after the loss of our preferred candidates.
I agree with Chaz. Seriously, Tim & Daveo?
For the record, I voted for McGinn in the Primary and was very happy to see Nickels go.
I agree that after Nickels lost STB did the right thing and moved forward with endorsing McGinn and not dwelling on Greg Nickels.
I was commenting on how in the article above the wording made it sound like the STB was with McGinn from the beginning and thus they endorsed the winner from the start. Rather, in reality their man (and this blog was quite the Greg Nickels praise blog at the time) lost the primary so they were left with picking either Mallahan or McGinn; which wasn’t a hard choice when it comes to public transit. The quote I posted above just made it sound like McGinn was their first choice which is stretching the truth at best.
ah, i see. Yeah you’re right, he shouldnt have said “early in the election season”
Daveo, I didn’t mean it that way but I think you’re right that it was poorly worded. I wouldn’t have written that way if I had the chance to do it all over again. Thanks for keeping me honest.
Well said.
Well Ok but unfortunately, something ominous is going to be thrown into the mix, because right now, there are over 1,000 write in names and sooner or later, someone is going to find out who they were for and the implications for the ultimate winner. Mallahan could be screwed by the fact that likely Nickels voters wrote his name in, thereby depriving him of needed votes. Mike McGinn could have his political legitimacy questioned because of those same pile of votes. This is assuming of course, that the race remains as tight as it currently is.
No, but most of us all seemed to like the mayor’s policies before the primary and neither candidate for his replacement seems to have paid tribute to anything the guy did – setting aside the fact, that everyone including my dog seems to want to claim credit for the foundation and execution of light rail in Seattle!
I think the STB board jumped ship too quickly and personally if I had been on it, I would have urged not endorsing either candidate but adopt a wait-and-see policy. That would have been an appropriate and decent tribute to the current mayor without either wallowing in a multi week wake for him or unceremoniously dumping him before his time of departure. If we had all done this, we could have plucked order from the jaws of chaos and allowed time to see things settle down. Essentially, the voters of Seattle ended up with a degree of chaos from the primary because they ended up with two unseasoned and inexperienced candidates to run a major world city during a time of economic crisis.
Our advocacy goal is not giving tributes to deserving people but building transit infrastructure. McGinn didn’t only just talk a good game on transit and also wants to get serious momentum behind extending light rail in the city. I’m proud that we endorsed McGinn after a period of skepticism regarding his rail transit positions. I wrote this after Nickels conceded defeat: We are impressed by McGinn’s commitment to buses, bikes, and feet, but we want to see something on rail. Did we not see that?
I also wrote at the time:
For the record, we will certainly honor Nickels as he leaves office. But the political season didn’t stop between the end of the primary and the beginning of the general. We immediately had to re-evaluate our stances and see if Mallahan would get serious on transit. (He never did.)
“Early in the election season” may have been unclear. I think we endorsed him for the general before any other media source, for what it’s worth. Sorry if you thought I was trying to sound prescient. (I wasn’t.)
Don’t forget that a ballot box was vandallized and possibly opened with 860 votes still in it (it turns out we just leave these things out on the street overnight, unsupervised). That may also turn into a legal mess.
Well, no, Matt they don’t just leave most of these out on the street overnight, unsupervised… but then I’m picturing this one to be more like a mailbox?
At any rate, while terrible if any votes were stolen, it wouldn’t impact the Executive race and I doubt there were many Seattle residents dropping votes in that box on their way to/from work in Tukwila to have an impact.