JASON RANTZ

Is Bill Bryant running for mayor of Seattle?

Apr 27, 2017, 12:22 PM | Updated: 1:11 pm

Some Seattlites are pushing for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant to run for mayor. But will he?

RELATED: Who will run against Seattle Mayor Ed Murray?

This week, a listener sent me a link to an online petition asking Bryant to run. The petition reads, in part:

Seattle is in disarray. Local elected officials are unwilling to address the homeless crisis, unable to keep our cost of living from skyrocketing, and refuse to work with businesses to create good, middle-class jobs. Scandals and partisan politics have crippled our city. Enough is enough.

As a former port commissioner of Seattle, Bill Bryant has a proven record of protecting our environment, helping the homeless get back on their feet, and creating local jobs here in Seattle.

I reached out to Bryant to ask if he’ll consider a run.

“I get asked to run between a few and many times a day, every day,” Bryant told me. “It’s flattering, but I couldn’t get elected since I’d just want to focus on basics — like getting control of taxes, making sure traffic moves, streets are smooth, parks are maintained, people and property are safe, get serious about homelessness — rather than on a bunch of  ideological crap, but too many in Seattle seem enthralled by the ideological over the boring basics.”

Hate to burst the petitioner’s bubble: It doesn’t sound like Bryant is going to run.

Jason Rantz on AM 770 KTTH
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Is Bill Bryant running for mayor of Seattle?