2013 Seattle mayoral election explained

Election Name:	2013 Seattle mayoral election
Type:	Presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2009 Seattle mayoral election
Previous Year:	2009
Next Election:	2017 Seattle mayoral election
Next Year:	2017
Image1:	File:Ed Murray cropped (1).jpg
Candidate1:	Ed Murray
Party1:	Nonpartisan candidate
Popular Vote1:	106,384
Percentage1:	51.55%
Candidate2:	Michael McGinn
Party2:	Nonpartisan candidate
Popular Vote2:	97,935
Percentage2:	47.45%
Mayor
Before Election:	Michael McGinn
Before Party:	Democratic
After Election:	Ed Murray
After Party:	Democratic

The 2013 Seattle mayoral election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the mayor of Seattle. Incumbent Mayor Michael McGinn ran for re-election to a second term in office.^[1]

Municipal elections in Washington are officially non-partisan. A non-partisan primary was held on August 6, 2013. The top two finishers, State Senator Ed Murray, who received 30% of the vote, and incumbent Mayor McGinn, who received 29% of the vote, advanced to the November general election.

Murray won the general election with 52% of the votes.^[2]

Primary election

Candidates

On the ballot

• Joey Gray, information-systems consultant and trainer^[3]
• Bruce Harrell, City Councilman^[4] (Democratic Party)
• Kate Martin, former Greenwood Community Council President^[5]
• Mary Martin, activist^[3] (Socialist Workers Party)
• Michael McGinn, incumbent Mayor^[1] (Democratic Party)
• Doug McQuaid, attorney^[3]
• Ed Murray, State Senator^[6] (Democratic Party)
• Charlie Staadecker, real estate broker^[7]
• Peter Steinbrueck, lobbyist and former City Councilman^[8] (Democratic Party)

Withdrew

• Tim Burgess, City Councilman^[9] (Democratic Party)
• David Ishii, "character"^{[10] [11]}

Declined

• Sally J. Clark, City Council President^[12] (Democratic Party)
• Maud Daudon, President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce^[13]
• Ron Sims, former Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former King County Executive^[14] (Democratic Party)

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	class=small	Sample size	Margin of error	Tim Burgess	Joey Gray	Bruce Harrell	David Ishii	Kate Martin	Mary Martin	Michael McGinn	Doug McQuaid	Ed Murray	Ron Sims	Charlie Staadecker	Peter Steinbrueck	Undecided
SurveyUSA^[15]	July 15–18, 2013	501	± 4.5%	—	1%	11%	—	1%	2%	align=center	21%	1%	align=center	22%	—	3%	14%	align=center	25%
SurveyUSA^[16]	May 17–19, 2013	552	± 4.3%	—	—	12%	—	4%	3%	align=center	22%	—	15%	—	4%	align=center	17%	align=center	23%
SurveyUSA^[17]	March 4–7, 2013	647	± 3.9%	10%	—	5%	0%	3%	—	align=center	15%	—	9%	align=center	15%	1%	7%	align=center	34%
	align=center	11%	—	6%	0%	4%	—	align=center	19%	—	8%	—	1%	10%	align=center	38%

Debates and Forums

2013 Seattle mayoral debates and candidate forums!!Date!Host!Moderator! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan! Nonpartisan

Key: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn
				Joey Gray	Bruce Harrell	Kate Martin	Mary Martin	Michael McGinn	Doug McQuaid	Ed Murray	Charlie Staadecker	Peter Steinbrueck
1	April 29, 2013	South Seattle Community College	C.R. Douglas
2	May 2, 2013	Hamilton Middle School	Unknown
3	June 19, 2013	Young Voters League	Wyking Garrett
4	July 1, 2013	Seattle Neighborhood Greenways	Tom FucoloroDeb Salls
5	July 16, 2013	CityClub of Seattle	Joni Balter
6	July 17, 2013	KCTS 9Downtown District Council of Seattle	Enrique CernaJoni Balter

Several candidates at the May 2 forum attacked McGinn on different issues, including Murray and Harrell. Murray attempted to paint McGinn as a divisive figure who wasn't able to get things done, while Harrell argued that McGinn's accomplishments were due to the work of the Seattle City Council.^[18]

At the July 16 debate, candidate Kate Martin was escorted from the stage after arriving, as she had not been invited. Other candidates and members of the audience indicated support for Martin, which resulted in CityClub executive director Diane Douglas discussing the organization's policy for selecting candidates to invite to debates.^[19]

The debate on July 17 included questions on transportation, police department accountability, and marijuana.^[20] Marijuana was legalized in Washington the year prior through Washington Initiative 502, but the Washington State Liquor Control Board was still in the process of creating regulations for the industry.^[21]

Results

General election

Candidates

• Michael McGinn, incumbent Mayor
• Ed Murray, State Senator

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	class=small	Sample size	Margin of error	Michael McGinn	Ed Murray	Undecided
Strategies 360^[22]	October 14–16, 2013	400	± 4.9%	34%	align=center	51%	15%
SurveyUSA^[23]	October 2013	557	± 4.2%	32%	align=center	52%	15%
Public Policy Polling^[24]	October 4–6, 2013	570	± ?	28%	align=center	52%	20%
SurveyUSA^[25]	September 14–15, 2013	503	± 4.5%	30%	align=center	52%	18%

Debates and Forums

2013 Seattle mayoral debate and candidate forums!!Date!Host!Moderator!Nonpartisan!Nonpartisan

Key: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn
				Michael McGinn	Ed Murray
1	September 17, 2013	Senior Center of West Seattle	Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis
2	September 26, 2013	Seattle Park's Foundation	C.R. Douglas
3	October 16, 2013	Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color United for Progress	Unknown

At the September 26 forum, McGinn outlined a proposal that would institute a tax of $.01 per ounce of soda. A similar tax had been instituted by the state legislature but was repealed in 2010 with the passage of Washington Measure 1107.^[26] McGinn and Murray clashed over a scandal in which Michael King, the executive director of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, was charged with embezzling $330,000 in campaign contributions. McGinn used the incident to attack Murray, who was a co-chair of the committee, while Murray apologized and sought to focus on issues rather than the scandal.^[27] McGinn had previously stated that he was not responsible for overseeing King's work, and that he and the other co-chairs of the committee turned the issue over to the authorities when they became aware of what was happening.^{[28] [29]}

Results

In preliminary returns, Murray won 56 percent of votes. Although this amount was greater than the McGinn campaign could make up as voting continued McGinn declined to concede, saying his supporters wanted an additional day of counting.^[30]

On November 7 McGinn conceded to Murray and offered his congratulations.^[31]

Notes and References

1. Web site: McGinn Kickoff Brings In "Just Under" $5,000. March 12, 2012. August 27, 2012. PubliCola. Erica C.. Barnett.
2. Web site: November 26, 2013 . Election Results, General and Special Election of November 5, 2013: Official Final . PDF . 46 . King County Elections . January 3, 2016.
3. Web site: 2 more join Seattle mayor's race; other high-profile battles scarce . Lynn Thompson and Keith Ervin . Seattle Times . May 17, 2013 . May 23, 2013.
4. Web site: Harrell joins mayor's race, calls McGinn's style ineffective . Lynn Thompson . Seattle Times . January 15, 2013 . January 16, 2013.
5. Web site: Greenwood activist Kate Martin to run for Seattle mayor . Emily Heffter . Seattle Times . December 17, 2012 . January 5, 2013.
6. Web site: Legislature's Ed Murray Wants to Run for Seattle Mayor. Andrew Garber . Seattle Times .
7. Web site: Charlie Staadecker a dark horse in mayoral race . Lynn Thompson . Seattle Times . December 13, 2012 . January 5, 2013.
8. Web site: Steinbrueck kicks off campaign with vision of a "city for all" . Emily Heffter . Seattle Times . December 19, 2012 . January 5, 2013 . Politics Northwest.
9. Web site: Friday Jolt: Burgess Withdraws from Mayor's Race . May 17, 2013 . Seattle Metropolitan. Erica C.. Barnett.
10. Web site: Holy Crap! Another Candidate for Mayor! . Dominic . Holden . Dominic Holden. The Stranger . Slog . January 18, 2013 . January 24, 2013.
11. Web site: David Ishii Won't Be Next Mayor. March 13, 2013. June 1, 2013. Slog. Dominic. Holden.
12. Web site: Seattle City Council President Sally Clark: no plan to run for mayor. November 1, 2012. March 11, 2013. Puget Sound Business Journal. Marc. Stiles.
13. Web site: Chamber CEO Maud Daudon puts mayoral rumors to rest. April 1, 2013. June 1, 2013. Puget Sound Business Journal. Greg. Lamm.
14. Web site: Ron Sims won't run for mayor. March 11, 2013. March 11, 2013. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Joel. Connelly.
15. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=f393adef-81c9-42c2-a635-08edd34c51d3 SurveyUSA
16. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=77270c79-8879-46c6-9cb6-5c2b5c6983eb SurveyUSA
17. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=0a320e95-47f4-4a51-a965-42ddfb5e83bf SurveyUSA
18. Web site: Morning Fizz: McGinn Successfully Fends off Attacks in Latest Candidate Forum . 2024-11-30 . Seattle Met . en-US.
19. Web site: Wang . Deborah . 2018-10-24 . Tempers Flare In Seattle Mayor's Race . 2024-11-25 . www.kuow.org . en.
20. Web site: 2013-07-18 . Seattle Mayor's Race Debate Features Eight Candidates Ahead Of Primary . 2024-11-25 . KUOW . en.
21. Web site: Liquor Control Board statement following passage of Initiative 502 Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board . 2024-11-25 . lcb.wa.gov.
22. https://web.archive.org/web/20131023055923/http://www.strategies360.com/seattle-poll-results.html Strategies 360
23. https://web.archive.org/web/20131016014033/http://www.king5.com/news/politics/McGinn-Murray-Seattle-mayor-poll-227655381.html SurveyUSA
24. http://www.seattlemet.com/data/files/2013/10/attachment/132/SeattleResults.pdf Public Policy Polling
25. https://web.archive.org/web/20130918090749/http://www.king5.com/news/politics/McGinn-Murray-Seattle-mayor-poll-223901461.html SurveyUSA
26. Web site: Morning Fizz: A Direct Challenge . 2024-11-30 . Seattle Met . en-US.
27. Web site: Special On Other Blogs: Transcript of Last Night's McGinn vs. Murray Blow Up . 2024-11-30 . Seattle Met . en-US.
28. Web site: Murray Says He's Not to Blame for Former Democratic Staffer Scandal . 2024-11-30 . Seattle Met . en-US.
29. Web site: 2013-10-03 . Former Dem official pleads guilty in $330,000 theft . 2024-11-30 . The Seattle Times . en-US.
30. Web site: Election 2013: Murray headed to mayor's office, GMO labeling behind, change in Seattle council system. Cascade PBS . 2024-10-19 . www.cascadepbs.org . en.
31. Web site: 2013-11-07 . McGinn concedes Seattle mayor's race to Murray . 2024-10-19 . king5.com . en-US.