After a neck-and-neck race for a week, Everett made history by electing Cassie Franklin as its first female mayor.
"I’m truly humbled and honored to be the Mayor-elect for our city, and to be our first elected woman Mayor for a wonderful city," Franklin said in a statement. "I will work very hard to serve this community well.”
Wednesday's returns showed Franklin (44.7 percent with 7,803 votes) led challenger Judy Tuohy (43.5%, 7,605 votes) by 198 votes. In the early days following the election, Tuohy held a super slim lead, leading by only seven votes.
Tuohy called Franklin Wednesday evening to congratulate her on the victory.
Everett City Councilmember Franklin is also the CEO of Cocoon House, a non-profit that works with homeless youth.
Council President Tuohy has served on Everett City Council since 2014 and runs the Schack Art Center.
“The campaign we ran the last few days, and honestly throughout the whole campaign, has been working to get a broader demographic out to the polls. Folks who traditionally have not felt represented in our community. If they turned in their ballots I think we'll do well,” said Franklin.
“We really did think it would be close. After the primary things went back and forth. Both teams did everything they could do in the campaign. This is not a surprise,” Tuohy said.
The city’s longest-serving mayor, Ray Stephanson, announced he would not seek re-election after 14 years in office.
Homelessness and the drug epidemic took the forefront in the mayoral race, with both candidates saying they would be top priorities.
Business owner Gary Watts, who set up a live-stream of a homeless camp across the street from his business, ran as a write-in candidate. He had 11.8 percent of the vote.
