Former T-Mobile Exec joins diverse field of Seattle mayor candidates

Joe Mallahan, a former T-Mobile executive, is taking a second swing at running for Seattle mayor.

With the candidate filing period ending Friday, seven challengers emerged to unseat first-term incumbent Bruce Harrell. Mallahan, who previously ran for mayor in 2009, is one of the seven.

Mallahan narrowly lost the 2009 mayoral race to Mike McGinn, fetching 47.7% of the vote compared to McGinn’s 51.1%. The race came down to a difference of 7,190 votes.

Mallahan’s platform

Mallahan stated in his announcement that Seattle has improved in recent years, but the progress has only been modest.

“Modest improvements aren’t enough,” Mallahan said in a statement. Mallahan’s release also said he wants to “restore urgency and accountability to city government, and deliver real outcomes on issues of homelessness, public safety, and affordability.”

He cited all the issues with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) as something Harrell is directly responsible for, claiming he has badly mismanaged the department.

“Even worse, sexual harassment and marginalization of women at City Hall has seemed to become pervasive in Bruce Harrell’s administration,” Mallahan’s statement read.

These issues have stretched to the mayoral office when Monisha Harrell, a senior deputy mayor and niece to Bruce Harrell, decided to step down from her post, claiming she felt disrespected by the mayor and some others in his administration. She alleged there was a “sexist” culture throughout Seattle’s government.

Mallahan believes the most urgent issues plaguing Seattle are homelessness, public safety, and the city’s overall cost of living.

Other candidates

Other candidates running for mayor include Katie Wilson, the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union; Ry Armstrong, a transgender community organizer and labor leader; Joe Malloy, a homeless man who wants to confront the homeless crisis; Thaddeus Whelan, an Army veteran and a project management analyst for the FAA; Clinton Bliss, a medical doctor; and Isaiah Willoughby, a former protestor who was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for starting a fire outside a police presinct during CHOP.

If Harrell wins, he would become Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels in 2009.

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