Seattle voters are poised to elect a new mayor and city attorney in November.
In what may be the biggest shocker of the primary election, Seattle city attorney Pete Holmes conceded the race Friday. He trailed behind his two opponents, republican Ann Davison and abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, and didn't see a path forward.
Seattle University political science professor Marco Lowe said he was just as surprised at the outcome as everyone else.
"He was challenged on both sides of the spectrum at the same time. They attacked his record saying he either prosecuted too much or too little," Lowe noted. "He had not raised a lot of money because I don't think he saw a challenge coming. I did not see a challenge. They did not get into the race until late. It was a perfect storm."
After Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan announced she would not seek reelection, 15 candidates jumped into the race. Two candidates rose to the top of the pack. It will be former Seattle city council president Bruce Harrell versus current city council president Lorena Gonzalez in November.
King County Executive Dow Constantine will compete for his job again, against challenger Joe Nguyen.
"Unlike Pete Holmes, we saw the county executive come into this reelection with a huge war chest. State senator Nguyen is mounting a really strategic and smart race, but he's having trouble getting over the momentum the county executive has kept going for a decade in office," Lowe said.
The Washington state general election is set for November 2.
Segment Producer Rebecca Perry. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.