Moon holding onto 2nd-place lead in Seattle mayoral primary by 2,235 votes

SEATTLE --  In the latest election results released Friday, Cary Moon held onto her second-place lead over Nikkita Oliver in the Seattle mayoral primary election  by just over 2,200 votes.

Whoever finishes in second place will advance to face primary winner Jenny Durkan in the Nov. 7 general election. The winner of that election will become Seattle's first female mayor since 1926.

In updated election results Friday afternoon, Moon, an urban planner, had 29,181 votes (17.38%), while Oliver, a lawyer and educator, had 26,946 votes (16.05%). That's a difference of 2,235 votes.

Meanwhile, Durkan, the former U.S. attorney in Seattle, won the primary over 20 other candidates.  The latest recount showed her with 28.7% of the vote on Friday. She will face the second-place finisher in the Nov. 7 general election.

Oliver, an attorney, announced Friday that her People's Party mayoral campaign was launching "ballot-chasing efforts" to contact voters whose ballots have been contested. And Moon appeared to jump on board that effort, while labeling Durkan as the "establishment" candidate.

"Seattle’s voters won’t let the future of our city be sunk by politics as usual, as shown by the shrinking percentage of votes for the establishment's candidate, now below 30%," Moon said. "With 90% of votes counted we are gaining on the other general election candidate, and we remain a full percentage point ahead of the third place candidate.

"However, we are not claiming a spot in the general election today.  I share Nikkita Oliver campaign's concerns that ballots of first time voters, infrequent voters, and those who face language barriers, are more frequently contested than others. That's why I'm encouraging my supporters to work with the Oliver campaign to contact voters whose ballots are contested," Moon said.

 

King County Elections will release updated vote results at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7.  Final results will be certified on Aug. 15.

According to The Seattle Times, machine recounts are mandatory when candidates are separated by fewer than 2,000 votes and also less than 0.5 percent of the total votes cast for both candidates. Manual recounts are mandatory when the gap is fewer than 1,000 votes and also less than 0.25 percent of the total votes cast for both candidates. But candidates also can request recounts.

In the latest results Friday in the Tacoma mayoral primary election, architect Jim Merritt maintained his lead (10,008 votes or 39.06%) and will face former Tacoma City Councilwoman Victoria Woodards (9,498 votes or 37.07%) in the Nov. 7 general election. The third candidate, Evelyn Lopez, was back at 23.66% of the vote.

In the Everett mayoral primary election, City Councilwoman Cassie Franklin maintained her lead Friday with 4,220 votes or 31.65%. Her council colleague, Judy Tuohy, had 3,932 votes or 29.49%. But close behind her was Brian Sullivan, with 3,865 votes or 28.98%.

A new count won't be released until about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 9.