User:SounderBruce/Sandbox/2001 election

The 2001 Seattle mayoral election took place on November 6, 2001. King County Councilman Greg Nickels defeated Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran by a margin of 3,000 votes (out of 172,000 cast), becoming the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington. The final count was not tabulated until November 16 because of absentee ballots and the nature of the race, and was the closest Seattle mayoral election since 1912. Incumbent mayor Paul Schell failed to advance out of the primary, becoming the first incumbent not to advance since 1938.

Background
Paul Schell, a former real estate developer and urban planner, was elected as mayor of Seattle in 1997 on a campaign of office reform and forging alliances with the city council and community organizations. During his first term, Schell presided over planning and financing of a new city hall, new central library, new municipal courthouse, new stadiums and new neighborhood and city parks. The growing influence of Seattle on the global stage in the 1990s, led by companies like Microsoft, Boeing and Starbucks, brought the annual World Trade Organization conference to the city in 1999. The conference was overshadowed by massive protests that resulted in Schell to call in the Washington National Guard and enforce a no-protest zone in Downtown Seattle; police chief Norm Stamper resigned after the incident and Schell was widely panned for his response to the protests.

The following year, Schell's public approval began to rise again after the passage of library and parks levies during the November 2000 elections. A week after announcing his re-election campaign, Schell's administration was criticized for their response to the Seattle Mardi Gras riot on February 27, 2001, which left Kris Kime dead and injured 71 people. The following day, the 6.8 Mw Nisqually earthquake struck Seattle, damaging buildings in the Pioneer Square area (where the riots had taken place) and the Alaskan Way Viaduct (a major freeway); Schell was criticized for his hands-off approach to responding to the riots and earthquake, favoring press briefings to on-site tours (instead led by King County Executive Ron Sims). An announcement by aircraft manufacturer Boeing weeks later to relocate their corporate headquarters from Seattle, where it had been based for 85 years, to Chicago, took elected leaders in the region, including Schell, by surprise. The combination of events led to public criticism of Schell's leadership and administration, with approval dropping and affecting his re-election campaign.

Primary election
The nonpartisan blanket primary election, scheduled for September 18, 2001, had 12 candidates ranging from incumbent mayor Schell to city and county council members and ordinary citizens.

The mayoral campaign began in February 2000, two months after the WTO protests and nearly two years before the general election, with candidates expressing interest in running against Schell. King County Councilman Greg Nickels, who lost in the 1997 primary, was the first major candidate to announce his intent to challenge Schell. Schell announced that he would run for a second term in February 2001, despite an Elway Research poll showing that only 27 percent of surveyed voters would re-elect him. By May, The Seattle Times mused that the race was "in search of a frontrunner", identifying Schell and Nickels as early contenders along with City Attorney Mark Sidran, who had announced his candidacy in March.

Schell began accelerating his campaign in early June, hiring a media consultant to advise the mayor's public relations office on improving media relations. Nickels, meanwhile, struggled to improve his citywide profile despite popularity with constituents in West Seattle, opening offices in Fremont to campaign in North Seattle. City Councilmember Charlie Chong announced his campaign shortly before the primary filing deadline on July 27. City Councilmember Jan Drago was considered another likely and prominent candidate, but declined to run in favor of seeking re-election to the City Council.

At a civic event in the Central District on July 7, Mayor Schell was injured after being struck by a bullhorn by Omari Tahir-Garrett, a community activist and candidate for mayor. Garrett, who had been protesting the shooting of an African-American motorist in the area, struck Schell and broke bones in his nose and around his right eye, and was arrested and found guilty of second-degree assault after a year-long trial. Schell returned to the campaign trail after two days of hospitalization, sporting a black eye and receiving sympathy from rival candidates.

Uncertainty about primary system

Schell first incumbent defeated in primary since 1938 (1936?)

9/11 only a week before election, debate canceled on KIRO Radio and TV ads not aired (September 13), candidates to "restart" campaigns

Sidran endorsed by Post-Intelligencer and Times

Candidates

 * Piero Bugoni, member of the "Responsible Party"
 * Charlie Chong, former Seattle City Councilman from 1996 to 1997 and former mayoral candidate in 1997
 * Max Englerius, security consultant and perennial candidate
 * Bob Hegamin, retired engineer and government watchdog
 * Scott Kennedy, coffee shop owner
 * Richard Lee, conspiracy theorist
 * Greg Nickels, King County Councilman since 1988
 * Caleb Schaber, journalist and artist
 * Paul Schell, incumbent Mayor of Seattle since 1998
 * Mark Sidran, Seattle City Attorney since 1990
 * Omari Tahir-Garrett, community activist
 * Scott K. Whittemore

Issues
Sound Transit (Nickels) vs. Monorail

Viaduct replacement (would flare up in 2009)

General election
Sidran endorsed by Gov. Locke and former governors; Times

Seattle Times coverage

Issues
Issues: Monorail (dropped by Sidran), "Seattle way"

General election results
Concession on November 15 after absentee returns

Aftermath
Nickels re-elected in 2005, losing in 2009 (blamed on snow debacle)