It may take a while for the results to be made official, but it looks like Seattle just elected a gay mayor. Ed Murray, a state senator and architect of the Washington state marriage equality law, took a commanding lead over incumbent Mike McGinn on Tuesday night.
The two had been locked in a fierce contest largely over questions of style, since both men are liberals. Murray portrayed himself as a can-do pragmatist, contrasting himself with McGinn, who had gotten into a number of run-ins with business interests and members of the City Council. Murray probably also got a boost from the city’s demographics. Seattle now ranks first in large U.S. cities in terms of gay households.
Because so many Seattle voters cast ballots by mail, final results will take a while to tabulate. But as of Tuesday night, Murray had a 13-point lead, making it unlikely that McGinn could overcome the deficit. McGinn didn’t concede yet, but he also made it sound like it was just a matter of time: “My fans all wanted another day of vote counting and I’ll give them that.”
Photo credit: State Sen. Ed Murray’s website
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Geoff B
It must be nice to live in Seattle. I don’t know what it’s like to actually vote for someone you actually want to win instead of holding your nose and voting for the candidate you hate least.