Seattle mayoral candidates react to initial results
SEATTLE -- After months of campaigning, the nine candidates vying for the mayor’s seat in Seattle had strong reaction to the early results coming out from the King County Election Office.
With about half of the votes counted, State Senator Ed Murray leads the field with 30 percent of the vote. Current Mayor Mike McGinn is a strong second with 27 percent. In a distant third place, former city council member Peter Steinbrueck received 16 percent of the votes cast. And, current city council member, Bruce Harrell saw 15 percent of the votes in his favor.
With these early results, it appears Murray and McGinn will move on to the November election. At his watch party, Mayor Mike McGinn says his camp will keep fighting.
“I was thinking about four years ago, they were saying how is this neighborhood and environmental activist from Seattle going to win a mayor’s race? Four years later, they’re still asking it but you’re proving them wrong,” McGinn said.
Murray said the results show that the folks of Seattle want a new direction. Murray said, “One thing is clear from today’s results that people of Seattle want new leadership. They’re excited about the possibility of new leadership that’s collaborative.”
It appears former Seattle council member, Peter Steinbrueck will be left out of the election in November but he says it’s not over. Steinbrueck said, “Certainly I’m excited to be in the running. We still have 50 percent of the vote. Ballots that are uncounted yet. We may have to wait this out a couple of say so I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Current Seattle council member Bruce Harrell seems to be conceding the race after the early results were posted. “Harrell said, “I’m very disappointed, but we ran a great race. I’m surrounded by people who love me and I think our message resonated. Still, the people want change and apparently they want a new mayor.”