| Turnout | 52.50%[1] | |||||||||||||||
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The2013 Seattle mayoral election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect themayor ofSeattle. Incumbent MayorMichael McGinn ran for election to a second term in office.[2]
Municipal elections in Washington are officially non-partisan. A non-partisan primary was held on August 6, 2013. The top two finishers,State SenatorEd 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%.[3]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | 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[16] | July 15–18, 2013 | 501 | ± 4.5% | — | 1% | 11% | — | 1% | 2% | 21% | 1% | 22% | — | 3% | 14% | 25% |
| SurveyUSA[17] | May 17–19, 2013 | 552 | ± 4.3% | — | — | 12% | — | 4% | 3% | 22% | — | 15% | — | 4% | 17% | 23% |
| SurveyUSA[18] | March 4–7, 2013 | 647 | ± 3.9% | 10% | — | 5% | 0% | 3% | — | 15% | — | 9% | 15% | 1% | 7% | 34% |
| 11% | — | 6% | 0% | 4% | — | 19% | — | 8% | — | 1% | 10% | 38% |
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||||||||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 | N | P | P | N | P | N | P | P | P |
| 2 | May 2, 2013 | Hamilton Middle School | Unknown | N | P | P | N | P | N | P | P | P |
| 3 | June 19, 2013 | Young Voters League | Wyking Garrett | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | A |
| 4 | July 1, 2013 | Seattle Neighborhood Greenways | Tom Fucoloro Deb Salls | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| 5 | July 16, 2013 | CityClub of Seattle | Joni Balter | N | P | N | N | P | N | P | P | P |
| 6 | July 17, 2013 | KCTS 9 Downtown District Council of Seattle | Enrique Cerna Joni Balter | P | P | P | A | P | P | P | P | P |
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 theSeattle City Council.[19]
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.[20]
The debate on July 17 included questions on transportation, police department accountability, and marijuana.[21] Marijuana was legalized in Washington the year prior throughWashington Initiative 502, but theWashington State Liquor Control Board was still in the process of creating regulations for the industry.[22]
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Murray | 42,314 | 29.85 | |
| Michael McGinn | 40,501 | 28.57 | |
| Peter Steinbrueck | 22,913 | 16.16 | |
| Bruce Harrell | 21,580 | 15.22 | |
| Charlie Staadecker | 6,288 | 4.44 | |
| Doug McQuaid | 2,546 | 1.80 | |
| Kate Martin | 2,479 | 1.75 | |
| Mary Martin | 1,498 | 1.06 | |
| Joey Gray | 1,318 | 0.93 | |
| Write-in | 334 | 0.24 | |
| Total votes | 141,771 | 100 | |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Michael McGinn | Ed Murray | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategies 360[24] | October 14–16, 2013 | 400 | ± 4.9% | 34% | 51% | 15% |
| SurveyUSA[25] | October 2013 | 557 | ± 4.2% | 32% | 52% | 15% |
| Public Policy Polling[26] | October 4–6, 2013 | 570 | ± ? | 28% | 52% | 20% |
| SurveyUSA[27] | September 14–15, 2013 | 503 | ± 4.5% | 30% | 52% | 18% |
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Nonpartisan | Nonpartisan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | |||||
| Michael McGinn | Ed Murray | ||||
| 1 | September 17, 2013 | Senior Center of West Seattle | Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis | P | P |
| 2 | September 26, 2013 | Seattle Park's Foundation | C.R. Douglas | P | P |
| 3 | October 16, 2013 | Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color United for Progress | Unknown | P | P |
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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30][31]
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.[32]
On November 7 McGinn conceded to Murray and offered his congratulations.[33]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Ed Murray | 106,384 | 51.55 | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael McGinn | 97,938 | 47.45 | |
| Write-in | 2,058 | 1.00 | ||
| Plurality | 8,446 | 4.09 | ||
| Turnout | 206,377 | 50.27 | ||
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