Mike McGinn has become Seattle's 52nd mayor after the latest vote count released today gave him a 4,900-vote advantage over Joe Mallahan. City council president Richard Conlin was moved to congratulate the "mayor elect" in this prepared statement:
On behalf of the Council, I want to congratulate our new Mayor-elect, Michael McGinn. Michael has a great track record of working for the people of Seattle. I’m very optimistic about the partnership we have the opportunity to create between the Council and the incoming Mayor. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition as he takes on his new role.
I also want to commend Joe Mallahan and his supporters for their commitment and passion for public service. It was a hard fought race that raised many important issues that our city will face in the coming years.
We have many challenges ahead, including the economic recovery of our region, managing our budget in a difficult time, strengthening regional connections, and building a new green economy.
I remember when I began my career as a Councilmember in 1998 and what it was like to have partners willing to work with me, sharing the same vision and goals. I, and my colleagues on the Council, offer the same support and partnership to our incoming mayor.
We look forward to working together to make Seattle the best city it can be.
Mallahan has conceded the race, KUOW reports.
McGinn had been pulling away in the late votes counted since election night. He led by about 900 votes on Tuesday. He has only widened the lead recently.
McGinn had 96,514 votes or 50.88 percent at latest count. Mallahan had 91,575 votes or 48.28 percent. Write-in candidates collectively garnered 1,605 votes or slightly under 1 percent.
According to polls done for KING5 by Survey USA, McGinn seemed to be gaining momentum in the weeks leading up to the election. The last poll showed the race neck-to-neck. Mallahan had a wider lead in previous polls.
McGinn has refused to speculate on why that trend emerged. A possibility may be his clarification of his stance on the tunnel, in which he said that while he opposes the project, he would respect the positon of the City Council and state legislature. That may have eased the concerns of voters who may have seen him as an obstructionist.
Mallahan has also laid claim to winning the support of late deciding voters. After Thursday's count, Mallahan's campaign noted that he'd inched closer to McGinn -- gaining 462 votes since election night. If that trend continued, campaign spokesman Charla Neuman said city might be headed toward a recount. The Secretary of State's office blog says a recount is mandatory if the vote margin is less than one-half of one percent and also less than 2,000 votes.
However, what gains Mallahan had made since election night evaporated with Friday's first count.
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