Jenny Durkan will be Seattle’s next mayor, after opponent Cary Moon officially conceded on Wednesday. Durkan had 60 percent of the vote as of Wednesday afternoon, according to King County Elections. Durkan will be the city’s first woman mayor since Bertha Knight Landes served as Seattle’s mayor in the 1920s.
The Stranger reports that Durkan will be sworn in on Nov. 28.
Durkan will be sworn in before January because of the resignation of former Mayor Ed Murray, who left his position following allegations of sexual assault.
The status of other local races appeared to hold as votes were counted on Wednesday.
Incumbent council member Lorena Gonzalez and candidate Teresa Mosqueda held their large leads for Seattle City Council positions 9 and 8, respectively.
King County Sheriff John Urquhart’s challenger Mitzi Johanknecht expanded her lead from about 3 percentage points to 5 percentage points after Wednesday’s vote counts. The news coverage of the sheriff’s race had been dominated in recent weeks with headlines focusing on sexual harassment claims against Urquhart.
Democrat Minka Dhingra maintained her 11 percentage point lead over opponent Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund in the race for the Legislative District 45 senate seat. The seat opened last year after Sen. Andy Hill died of cancer.
If Dhingra’s lead continues to hold, that would mean that Democrats would hold the majorities in both chambers of the Washington State Legislature, as well as the governorship.
