Anti-tunnel mayoral candidate Mike McGinn, who just picked up endorsements from the 37th District Ds and the Sierra Club (Nickels snagged the Washington Conservation voters' love), claims a new poll shows him winning handily if only everyone in Seattle knew he was against that $4.2-billion boondoggle tunnel. The poll his campaign commissioned shows 64 percent of Seattle voters are against building a tunnel, just like Mike "Tunnel Over My Dead Body" McGinn. The rest live in West Seattle, and just don't realize their transportation needs have already been met. more ›

Yesterday, after Publicola was reporting that mayoral hopeful Joe Mallahan had donated $200,000 to his own campaign, Sandeep Kaushik, Nickels' spokesperson, sent out a response: "The voters of Seattle are going to see through what is an obvious attempt by a wealthy individual with little experience in public service to buy their way into elected office. In contrast to our opponent putting hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into his campaign, we have raised our campaign funds from over 1,000 donors across the city of Seattle." Greg Nickels, defender of the little guy. Or course this is also the same Nickels whose $300,000+ campaign war chest was keeping people from even bothering to run against him. Even funnier? About 26 percent is from donors outside Seattle. Keep on keepin' it real, Mr. Mayor. more ›

For a while we were nursing the small hope that Peter Steinbrueck might make Mayor Nickels' rerun election interesting, but Joni Balter at the Times has snatched that from us: "Steinbrueck will be spending the first of the next four years in Cambridge, Mass. He landed a prestigious urban design fellowship at Harvard University, as he says, 'researching the politics, principles and plan for urban sustainability of U.S. cities.''' What is it with Harvard stealing our mayors, anyway? (H/t to Publicola) more ›

The city faces a $43 million budget shortfall. An unprecedented number of eyes (many of which belong to Seattle journalists and political watchdogs) are trained on the city's every budgetary move. We're just beginning what already smells like a contentious mayoral race towards elections later this year. What better time for Nickels and the city council to start meeting behind closed doors to work out the "very dull" budget-balancing process? Let media report on whatever they see fit, so the public can decide what's boring and irrelevant. That model works for hyperlocal blogs and it will work just as well for government. more ›

• The Rainier Valley Post reports that the third (ever!) director of the Union Gospel Mission will retire at the end of the year. That's truly the end of an era.
• Capitol Hill Seattle reports on the Capitol Hill (natch) art walk, newly upgraded to something called Blitz, after a redesign led by Ellen Forney--there's a map and a Facebook page.
• If you're on Phinney Ridge on Friday night, you can see their art walk and "party in the streets."

Publicola says Sally Clark's office isn't denying that the politician will run for mayor at some point. Investigative fiend Josh Feit was investigating a rumor he'd heard and ran into surprisingly soft resistance to his inquiries; whether or not that means anything other than a spokesperson having a mischievous day is yet to be determined, but this is an interesting scoop. Hmm. Sally Clark in charge doesn't sound awful. It doesn't sound awful at all. more ›

Seattlest's father now knows who Dan Savage is, thanks to the Stranger editorial director's short-lived publicity stunt of a mayoral campaign. We suspect that was kind of the point. Savage isn't running anymore, thanks to the burdensome piles of paperwork associated with a real campaign, and we're grateful that whole shenanigan is done with. Piles of paperwork, we salute you. more ›

Tech Flash got curious about Microsoft's new budget-conscious laptop shopper ad and did a specs comparison with a Mac, but they didn't cover one area that people will pay lots of money for, which is quality and customer service. more ›

Newly minted mayoral candidate Mike McGinn has already provoked an awkward situation. While McGinn didn't want to get into Nickels-bashing at his press conference, his campaign fired off an email critical of mayor Nickels' green credentials today, so Publicola's Josh Feit got Nickels' man on the horn for a response. Only thing is, Nickels' man is Publicola's Sandeep Kaushik. Kaushik responded, “Nickels has an excellent environmental record,” and “I’m surprised Mike McGinn is going negative so early in this race," and did not say, "This is an untenable position, and I can clearly have no comment." more ›

In announcing his run for mayor of Seattle [video], Michael McGinn wanted to say three things: schools, broadband, buses. But staying on message isn't easy when you have a whole press conference to fill, and McGinn, despite his Greenwood Community Council and Sierra Club past, looked like a rookie early on. He whiffed on what should have been softball questions in the Q&A: "Why are you running against Greg Nickels?" and and had no public safety plank. more ›

Says the Stranger's Dan Savage: "I've had it with Peter and Tim and and Nick and Richard pansy-assing around about running for mayor. They announce they're thinking about it, they think about it, and then they announce that running for mayor is just too scary or too expensive or that Greg is just too formidable an opponent. Christ, do these guys have one lonely little nut between the four of 'em?" He promises to remain mayor for only 24 hours, then hand over the title to the city council president. We've heard that before. You elect these Chicago boys, they get comfy in the mayoral palace fast. more ›

Miller is a Maple Leaf resident, and is--oh, it's all coming back to us now--declaring for city council member Richard McIver's old spot, since McIver is retiring. "Based upon input from hundreds of Seattle residents, David Miller’s campaign is focused on four priorities: Grow Responsibly, Strengthen Neighborhoods, Prioritize People, and Return to Basics." Strengthen neighborhoods? Jesus, can you imagine? If the neighborhoods were any neighborhoodier, we'd have armed raids between the duchies of Wallingford and Fremont, just like in pre-Risorgimento Italy. No, we're afraid on that basis alone we'll be voting for the candidate who runs on Irresponsible Growth, Deprioritizing People, and Striking Out Toward the Hideously Complex. more ›

As you recall, there's a Facebook fan page for Peter Steinbrueck urging him to run for mayor. Guess what? Steinbrueck wrote its founder and asked for some feedback: "I'm overwhelmed by the outpouring of people interested in new leadership in the mayor's office! Well, it's gotten me thinking... political leadership should always be about change. I am in a listening mode, and I would like to ask ask a simple question of those who are urging me to run. That is: Besides a new mayor, what three things, 'For the Love of Seattle' would people like to see changed?" We feel like we're writing Santa a letter but okay: 1) affordable housing for the full spectrum of those making less than 60 percent of the median income, 2) a waterfront Central Park, and 3) city-funded start-up incubators (for profit and nonprofit) in partnership with the SBA. Drop your suggestions in the comments--we'll find a way to forward them--or over here. more ›

Yesterday, King County councilman Larry Phillips officially announced his run for the King County Executive seat--an elected position currently held by Ron Sims, who may or may not be campaigning for a fourth term. Phillips accused Sims of losing focus on King County business, though the executive has issued formal statements re-affirming his dedication to local issues. Sims is rumored to be jonesing for a federal appointment within the Obama administration. more ›

Here's a creative idea for how to support the presidential candidate of your choice in this last, crucial week: mail an exhausted campaign worker a pack of vacuum-sealed Vivace coffee beans to help them fight the good fight in battleground states like Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida. The Hoosier State works, too, as Obama supporter/Seattlest's housemate Sarah Moon found out when she received this email back in thanks from an expat Seattlite working for the Campaign for Change in Evansville, Indiana: more ›

"Hello Abbey - I work with the, still-nascent, Seattle office of the Nader-Gonzalez campaign..." more ›