Making Sense of 21 Candidates: Seattle’s Mayoral Race By the Numbers

$100,000 raised in a single week and other fun facts about Seattle’s mayoral candidates.

By Sara Bernard • May 23, 2017 6:40 am
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Nikkita Oliver was one of six candidates to declare before allegations against Ed Murray came to light. Photo by Alex Garland.
Nikkita Oliver was one of six candidates to declare before allegations against Ed Murray came to light. Photo by Alex Garland.

After the filing deadline hit last Friday at 4:30 p.m., Seattle saw the final tally for this fall’s mayoral race: A full 21 candidates. That’s more than any other race in King County this year. It’s also the first open-seat Seattle mayoral race—that is, the first without an incumbent—for two whole decades, after Mayor Ed Murray announced his decision in early May not to run for reelection amid allegations (which he denies) that he abused several teens decades ago.

As a result, the field is now crowded and diverse, with candidates ranging from a former U.S. attorney to a former Seattle mayor; a City Council gadfly to a longtime Bertha foe; a lawyer/activist and a hardcore socialist.

We’ve culled a few numbers to give a sense of the field. Lots of information was pulled from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. General biographical details were pulled from publicly available information.

Total Candidates: 21

Number of candidates with a functional campaign website: 13

Number of candidates who have held public office before: 4 (Jenny Durkan, Jessyn Farrell, Mike McGinn, Bob Hasegawa)

Number of candidates who have run for Seattle mayor before: 2 (McGinn, Mary Martin)

Number of candidates who have been Seattle mayor before: 1 (McGinn)

Number of candidates who entered the race before the allegations against Murray: 6

Number who entered after: 15

Number of candidates under the age of 40: 3 (Nikkita Oliver, Casey Carlisle, Keith Whiteman)

Largest campaign sum posted to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission through May 21: $34,360 (Oliver)

Percentage of Oliver campaign contributions under $99: 47

Percentage of McGinn contributions under $25: 35

Percentage of Cary Moon campaign contributions from outside Seattle limits: 49

Amount the Durkan campaign raised in the first four days of her candidacy: $60,000

Amount of money the Jenny Durkan campaign reportedly raised in its first week: $100,000

Number of candidates with $0 in either state-recorded or publicly released campaign contributions: 13

Number of candidates who are also artists: 2 (Oliver, Whiteman)

Number of candidates who’ve withdrawn their candidacy: 5

sbernard@seattleweekly.com

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