Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Joe Mallahan concedes as future Seattle mayor Mike McGinn again expands his lead

We called it last Friday... today, everybody else is acknowledging that Mike McGinn has prevailed in the contest for Mayor of Seattle. McGinn's rival Joe Mallahan, who also advanced from the August primary election, conceded gracefully at a press conference earlier this evening in Seattle, wishing McGinn the best as he moves into the top floor of the Municipal Tower downtown.

McGinn will succeed outgoing Mayor Greg Nickels beginning in early 2010. He'll have several weeks between now and then to transition.

He faces several daunting tasks: Naming a new administration, making peace with a political establishment that coalesced around his rival, and preparing to work with newly elected King County Executive Dow Constantine, Governor Chris Gregoire, the Seattle City Council, the County Council, and the Legislature.

As Mayor, he will also need to work with the folks who govern the Port of Seattle, Seattle School District, and Sound Transit.

Over the next four years McGinn will discover firsthand just how tough it is to run a city. He'll come to appreciate how awful, manipulative, and dangerous Tim Eyman's free lunch initiatives really are. He will learn that governing well means listening carefully and being accessible to the people he serves. He'll come face to face with the costs and complications of implementing new ideas.

And he will realize how challenging it will be to not only fulfill his own campaign promises, but tackle the city's many unsolved problems at the same time.

We wish Mike the best of luck. He's going to need it.

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