Durkan takes robust early lead in Seattle mayor race

Lisa Baumann, Associated Press

Updated four:08 am, Wednesday, November eight, 2017

SEATTLE (AP) — In a Seattle mayoral race that can give the booming liberal metropolis its first feminine mayor for the reason that 1920s former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan has taken a powerful early lead.

Ninety-one years after Seattle elected Bertha Knight Landes as mayor, early returns Tuesday confirmed Durkan had captured greater than a 20-point lead with practically 61 p.c of the primary votes tallied within the all-mail election. Urban planner Cary Moon tallied simply over 39 p.c of the vote.

“Now I know there’s a lot of votes left to be counted,” Durkan informed supporters. “But I have to tell ya we’re feeling really, really good about where we are.”

She additionally had a message for the president of the United States whose insurance policies she vocally opposed throughout her marketing campaign: “Can I just say, Donald Trump, keep your hands off Seattle.”

Ballot counting will proceed over the subsequent a number of days.

Voters have been selecting between Durkan, 59, or Moon, 54, or to steer this metropolis coping with the advantages and issues of an economic system booming for some greater than others as e-commerce big Amazon expands.

“We are up against tough odds,” Moon stated in a press release Tuesday night time. “Campaign spending for our opponent broke city election records, outspending us by more than 3:1. The Chamber of Commerce funneled hundreds of thousands on behalf of Comcast, CenturyLink, AT&T, Amazon and others into a no-limit PAC for our opponent. But Seattle late voters may surprise everyone. We believe the ballot counts will swing in our direction over time, and we’re not out of the race yet.”

The two-woman matchup got here after former Mayor Ed Murray dropped his re-election efforts amid accusations of badual abuse by a number of males. Murray had been anticipated to simply win re-election after pushing by will increase to town’s minimal wage and rising as a vocal opponent to President Donald Trump, whom Seattle voters overwhelmingly rejected in 2016. Murray, who has denied the allegations, resigned in September after a fifth accuser got here ahead.

“I feel like I take into account who the candidate is, regardless of male or female, but this year for me at least, it feels a little special to have a choice between two women and to sort of elevate the visibility of viable female candidates. I have a small tinge of excitement about that, for sure,” stated Seattle voter Michelle Solis.

The race between Durkan and Moon has centered on how town will reply to adjustments largely introduced by Amazon, which employs about 40,000 folks in Seattle. Housing costs have skyrocketed amid fixed complaints about site visitors and worries that the poor and center clbad are being priced out.

Durkan, backed by town’s enterprise and labor institution, has touted her managerial expertise as a prosecutor. Moon, in the meantime, who previously managed her household’s manufacturing enterprise, has pressured that she’s not a politician and has centered on her 20 years of activism on transit, waterfront and different metropolis points.

The race has attracted mbadive cash. Although it is Durkan’s first run for workplace, the well-connected participant in metropolis and state Democratic circles has raised practically $1 million. An independent-expenditure committee engaged on Durkan’s behalf has raised practically $847,000 to pump into election efforts.

Moon’s donations have topped $355,000 with over $176,000 coming from her non-public checking account. An independent-expenditure group for Moon raised over $27,000.

Because Murray resigned, the winner of the election will take workplace as quickly because the election is licensed in late November, as a substitute of January.

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Associated Press reporter Manuel Valdes contributed to this story.