So. with the August 1 primary date approaching, and after the smear attack on Mayor Murry, Seattle now has 21 wannabe mayors!
These range from the former biker party mayor Mike McGinn to perpetual hero of the anti soviet movement, Alex Tsimerman,
Screen shot of the mayoral candidate filings.
IMAGE: KING COUNTY ELECTIONS
Can you imagine the debates? Less see at 5 minutes each (including time for a moderator to ask a question and no time for folow up form audience or other candidates, that comes to about 2 hours of TV time .. assuming a few station breaks and commercials.
In addition to Mike MCGinn, Jessyn Farrell, Bob Hasegawa , Cary Moon, Teresa Mosqueda, Jessyn Farrell and Jenny Durkan, all have have some citywide constituencies. As for the others maybe this will be a real test of Seattle’s voucher form of public financing for campains. If nothing else, political junkies are likely to get a full calendar of chances to meet up with crackers and beer.
Nikkita Oliver, a social activist identified with Seattle Trotskyite Kshama Sawant, already holds the attention of the Sawant crew. One assumes she will be the focus if the Stranger, unless Seattle’s Porn and Politics free weekly decides to back someone that might be elected.
A huge mystery will be who gets Seattle’s dark money. Despite the perpetual paranoia of the Seattle left, there is not much under-the-counter money from developers and rich folks here. The realtors, the developers and the downtown business establishment are likely to donate via open and reportable contributions to campaigns. A bigger question is the public sector unions. SEIU, the teachers, port workers and the Police union. As long as the money is not explicitly for one candidate, under Washington and Seattle law, these groups can contribute unlimited funds in the form of access to databases, support form political staff, and funds to get out the vote by partisans of SEIU or police groups.
My bet? The race will come down to Durkan and Hasegawa.