- FROZEN IN CARBONITE: The empire struck back, but the rebels also put up a shitty fight.
But locals saw McGinn stumbleâand even face-plant on his own key issues.
As of election night, state senator Ed Murray became the mayor-elect with 56 percent of voters, a horde of endorsements, and enough money on his side to outspend McGinn by more than 50 percent.
While Murray used that wide cast of supporters to demonstrate that he could unify Seattle, he hammered on McGinnâs acrimonious style and ineffective leadership.
Four years ago, McGinn had run on the promise to put a light-rail extension on the ballot within two years, stay clear of the controversial deep-bore tunnel, bring bicycling inside the mainstream, and make Seattle more equitable for people of color and the poor. Instead? Light rail never materialized in any election. He unsuccessfully fought the tunnel anyway, to his detriment, while, even more detrimentally, he failed to present a viable transportation alternative. And bicycle lanes, ironically, became a whipping boy for all the cityâs traffic frustrations. Worst of all, McGinn stood by haplessly with a lame police chief while Seattle Police Department officers punched, kicked, shot, and killed racial minorities. Once the US Department of Justice forced the city into a court settlement to fix SPD, McGinnâs fate seemed sealed.
McGinn became toxic even to much of his base, which could neither defend his missteps nor cite many concrete accomplishments. Lacking a list of big victories, McGinn and his supporters couldnât change the conversation from his style back to policy. In the end, this mayorâs race was about styleâabout whether or not people liked McGinn. And they didnât like him.
