Not much good news for Greg Nickels in this afternoon’s ballot drop, with the gap between him and second place finisher Mike McGinn growing, if only slightly, to 1170 votes. I suppose it ain’t over until the fat mayor sings, but with about three quarters of the expected ballots already counted, and the trends not going in his direction, it sure does look like Mayor Nickels will be entering the private sector come January.
One thing I can say for certain is that the Seattle Times editorial board will have an easy time endorsing Mallahan. (Think tunnel.) As for me, I guess I’ll have to start paying closer attention to McGinn and Malahan as opposed to just complaining about their awfully uninspiring campaigns. (And really, all around, this his been a truly disappointing campaign thus far on the part of all the candidates.)
In other election not-quite-news, it looks like the late ballots haven’t trended quite so well for Susan Hutchison as the early ones, with her lead over second place finisher Dow Constantine shrinking from 37-22 on election night, to 34.6-25.0 after today’s drop. I guess the more you get to know Hutchison, the more you, um, know her.
Inspiring campaigns like a phony bottled water policy?
I write for a local education blog, Save Seattle Schools, and I sat down with Mike McGinn early on because education was one of his planks. It seemed odd because (1) the mayor doesn’t have governance over the schools and (2) it’s like apple pie – what mayor doesn’t want better public education?
I found Mike to be very easy to talk to and very thoughtful. So why education, I asked?
He said that he knew many people were troubled by our district – how is it a great city like Seattle has a district that at least 25% of the citizens choose not to send their kids to? How, he asked, could any mayor ignore citizens’ queries/worries/request for a mayor to do something?
This is a national trend (LA, New York) but every city and every district is different. Would we want the Mayor to hire the superintendent? Appoint half the Board? (I did check and while the Legislature would have to pass a law for it to happen, they could pass it just for Seattle school district.)
But that he’s thought about what else could happen beyond just wringing his hands (and hey, the City Council might think about what their role is) made me happy.
I don’t know if this guy has all the answers but at least he’s thinking.
Gpldy.
I think this may be a bell weather election.
It may foreshadow waht happens w/o news media of the usual sort.
Any chance of getting you or others to write on how we got here?
Well, I guess this means the media won’t have to get kicked by Tim Ceis anymore.
Sounds like the Mayor could be singing in the morning–press conference at City Hall at 10 AM.
Hizzoner reflects the demise of the uber-Progressive Bowel Movement.
People can no longer afford the stupidity Seattle has created for itself and the rest of King Kounty.
Good Riddance!
@6
Cause Republicans never create stupidity we had 8 greats years under GWB.
Well whaddaya know … Hutch is now trailing cigarette smoke.
It’s awfully tempting to think this election was another referendum on the tunnel idea that more or less ratified the first one.
But let’s say the good citizens of Seattle decide they would rather have a pedestrian/bicycle mall lined with shops than a state highway through downtown. This raises the interesting question of whether their desires should take precedence over the needs of those outside the city who depend on that arterial.
As for who gets to make that decision, the state or the city, that one’s easy. The state’s interest in the highway clearly trumps local parochial concerns.
Another die hard democrat bites the dust, they are falling like flys in Washington State. Out with the old and in with the new.
Gregoires Next thank God!
And hows that Obama Goverment Run Healthcare going these days, sounds like not to F’n good..
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@6 & @10
I hate to tell you this, but both Mallahan and McGinn are Democrats and Liberals.
Wow Mike Jones
Amazing. That made sense discussing the Seattle city mayor race. That salvo really made sense for a man who:
Spent $4000 each on “special” street waste recepticles
Allowed the Sonics to go bye-bye
Want to ban beach bon fires for their “CO2” value
His proposed weapons ban in Seattle Parks conflicting with state laws
His proposed parks closings
His supposed “not crossing” the fireman picket line for the National Conference of Mayors meeting
People were watching McNickels Mike. Were you?
@14
So I take it you think the city should have opened the treasury as much as was needed to get the Sonics to stay. Then what when Bennett moved the team anyway? It would have taken paying him more than the team was worth to keep the Sonics here.
The flip side is Nickels probably did more for transportation in Seattle than any Mayor in 40 years.