Apparently, the election of a bicycling neighborhood activist and political outsider to head a major American city is more than just local news. Some reactions from blogs and papers around the US:
A former Sierra Club leader who rode his bicycle to campaign events and relied heavily on volunteer support claimed a narrow and surprising victory on Monday in the race for mayor of this environmentally friendly city.
Mike McGinn, who received 51 percent of the vote, relied heavily on volunteer support.
“You cared, you believed, and we’ve got a lot more work to do,” Mike McGinn told supporters after the city’s mail-in election showed him winning 51 percent of the vote, by a margin of 4,939 votes out of about 190,000 cast in the mayor’s race.
Despite also being a Democrat, Mallahan’s career as a T-mobile executive, his endorsement from business interests such as the former local chamber leaders, and his previous work as an aide to former Sen. Slade Gorton, a Republican, all contributed to give voters a contrasting view of him compared to McGinn, who touted his grassroots-based campaign.
Mike McGinn – environmental activist, underdog candidate, avid urban cyclist, former Jim Weaver aide, lapsed lawyer – will be Seattle’s next mayor. His opponent, Joe Mallahan, just conceded.
McGinn is definitely not part of the Seattle establishment.
But McGinn’s unusual approach to the campaign won Seattle voters. He’d often act as his own spokesman and would ride his bike to events. His grass-roots campaign relied heavily on a squadron of volunteers.
His campaign highlighted experience he had leading a parks levy campaign and his activism with the Sierra Club, the national environmental organization.
After his populist, all-volunteer campaign surprised the city with a first place finish in the primary, McGinn was out-fundraised by 3 to 1 (largely thanks to a $230,000 donation Mallahan made to his own campaign) and had no support of the business community, unions, the city’s last daily newspaper, the state’s Democratic governor or virtually any other endorsement that matters in Seattle, with a few exceptions. Things looked dim for the candidate who was known to ride his bike to campaign events. But as he started talking about other issues, including mass transit, green jobs and business, voters started listening. When he pledged to respect a deal made by the City Council to move forward on the tunnel, McGinn closed in on Mallahan and ended up winning the campaign.
In a … race watched closely by cycling advocates around the United States, cyclist Mike McGinn announced his victory tonight in the Seattle mayoral election after his opponent Joe Mallahan conceded.
McGinn, who campaigned on his bicycle and strongly supports cycling and public transportation, was the dark horse candidate who was outspent three to one.
