Rantz: Mayor Murray should run for re-election

Over the weekend, Mayor Ed Murray ran a poll to get a better idea as to whether or not he should run a write-in re-election campaign. I think he should.

Yes, it’s a partly selfish decision since it makes the Mayoral race even more exciting. But the biggest reason why Murray should run again: he has nothing to lose.

Murray was undoubtedly hurt by the lawsuit leveled against him; it caused him to drop out of the race. But, when the accuser dropped the lawsuit, postponing it for a year or so, the accuser’s motive was undoubtedly hurt too; it seems like the whole lawsuit was leveled just to attack Murray’s campaign.

If Murray runs and loses, the narrative would be on his side. Murray can still blame a lawsuit he can deem shady and politically motivated. He tried hard, but couldn’t quite overcome what the lawsuit unfairly did to him. No one will think any less of him and the narrative, regardless of your thoughts on his guilt or innocent, would technically be true.

If Murray runs and wins, he just saved his legacy and can continue to build it. And let’s be clear: whatever he’s done as mayor will be discussed after it’s pointed out that he ended his re-election campaign due to allegations of paying an underage drug addict for sex. So what’s he got to lose at this point? He has the war chest and he has the motivation – he clearly wants to continue as mayor.
With that said, the re-election campaign would still be an uphill battle. And while write-it campaigns can be won, they’re obviously more difficult.

But there’s room for another candidate because polling indicates a huge area to exploit: about 40 percent of those polled are undecided as to who to vote for.

Former Mayor Mike McGinn leads in the polling; he is undoubtedly helped by name recognition. He’s also got a strong brand as a Progressive with voters who are gleefully activist.

Former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, who came into the race with virtually no name-recognition, polls a close second. That’s a very healthy showing, but she likely benefited from Murray’s decision to back out of the race.

Can Murray take enough of the 40 percent to justify running a write-in candidacy? I think so. But the window for a decision is closing quickly.

Media coverage on the race has been fractured because there are 21 candidates and it’s hard to focus. But this polling has created a narrative: McGinn and Durkan are the big contenders with Senator Bob Hasegawa and Nikkita Oliver having a slim path to picking up votes. The media is going to focus their coverage on these four candidates with haste and it would best suit Murray to jump in quickly.

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