"Mallahan takes lead in latest Seattle mayor's vote count"

Chris Grygiel (Strange Bedfellows):

Businessman Joe Mallahan jumped ahead in the latest vote count in the Seattle mayor's race.

Environmentalist Michael McGinn dropped to second and two-term incumbent Greg Nickels remained in third place.

Mallahan was at 26.76 percent. McGinn was at 26.48 percent and Nickels was at 25.19 percent.

Following Tuesday's initial count of about 65,000 ballots in Seattle, McGinn was at 26.6 percent, Mallahan at 25.8 percent and Nickels at 25 percent. The top two finishers advance to the November general election.

There will be another vote count released Thursday, and it could be several days before the primary winners in the mayor's race are known. On Thursday elections officials released a count of just under 16,000 votes in Seattle races. McGinn now leads Nickels by 1,016 votes.

Mallahan's spokesman, Charla Neuman, said Mallahan "is the only candidate that can deliver what Seattle clearly needs -- an open and accountable leader that can effectively manage the city ... Joe Mallahan is the only one offering that message and new leadership to the voters."

McGinn, who surprised many by getting the most votes in Tuesday nights counts, met with the media Wednesday morning. He said his approach to the race would remain the same.

"We had to have a grassroots campaign," he said, noting that Nickels and Mallahan had a lot more money. "I don't really see that changing."

McGinn, whose signature issue is opposition to the $4.2 billion tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, wasn't backing down on that stand. He has said the $930 million the city would contribute to the project would be better spent elsewhere. "If I'm elected mayor we are not going to allocate $930 million for that tunnel," he said.