With a healthy 61% of the vote, Democrat Jenny Durkan is projected to become the first female mayor of Seattle since 1926.
The city’s leader was bound to be a woman no matter what, as Durkan faced off against another female candidate, Cary Moon. But it’s Durkan, a former U.S. attorney, who’s expected to clinch the seat.
Both women were vying to replace Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who resigned in September, after facing a fifth allegation of child sex abuse. After his resignation, 21 candidates put their names forward, leading to a competitive primary season. Like Durkan, Moon is also a Democrat. The rivals entered the general election after emerging as the top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan primary.
Tuesday’s election appears to be a landslide win for Durkan, though not all ballots had been counted as of early Wednesday morning and Moon has not yet conceded. Nevertheless, Durkan told supporters on Tuesday night, “Now I know there’s a lot of votes left to be counted, but I have to tell ya we’re feeling really, really good about where we are.”
For the first time since 1926, Seattleites have elected a woman to lead the @CityofSeattle . Congratulations @JennyDurkan ! #waelex pic.twitter.com/2O0St4TRmi
— Heather Stewart (@hl_stewart) November 8, 2017
The Seattle Times reports that both candidates promised to address Seattle’s acute homelessness problem, though Durkan claimed an early advantage in the race, with endorsements from local politicians, business groups, and labor unions. She also reportedly spent nearly three times as much money as Moon.