| Elections in Washington |
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The 2019 Spokane mayoral election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the mayor of Spokane, Washington. The previous mayor, David Condon was unable to run due to term limits. It saw former local news anchor Nadine Woodward defeat former Spokane City Council president Ben Stuckart by a margin of just over one percentage point.
Background
While both general election candidates officially listed themselves as non-partisan, each represented one side of the right-left political divide in the United States with Woodward on the right-wing[2][3] and Stuckart on the left-wing.[3]
Despite sitting in a long-time Republican-held Congressional district, the City of Spokane itself had become Democrat-leaning in the years leading up to the 2019 mayoral election. Stuckart led a city council with a liberal super-majority — which persisted after the election — and the Democratic challenger to congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers won the city by 17 percentage points in the prior year's election. Woodward's ability as a right-wing candidate to win the left-leaning city was due in large part to her popularity as a nearly three-decade presence on local TV news at both KREM and KXLY as well as her ability to turn the race into a referendum on homelessness and crime.[4]
Primary election
Washington has a nonpartisan blanket primary system. The top two finishers in the primary face each other in the general election.
The primary election was held on August 6, 2019.[1]
Declared candidates
- Jonathan Bingle, former pastor
- Kelly P. Cruz, chairman of Spokane C.O.P.S.
- Shawn Poole, firefighter and veteran
- Ben Stuckart, former city council president
- Nadine Woodward, former news anchor
Declined
- Lisa Brown, former Majority Leader of the Washington Senate (2005–2013), and Democratic candidate for Washington's 5th congressional district in 2018[5]
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 30–40%
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nadine Woodward | 19,366 | 40.11 | |
| Ben Stuckart | 18,353 | 38.02 | |
| Shawn Poole | 6,122 | 12.68 | |
| Jonathan Bingle | 3,157 | 6.54 | |
| Kelly P. Cruz | 1,080 | 2.24 | |
| Under votes | 622 | 1.27 | |
| Write-in | 200 | 0.41 | |
| Over votes | 17 | 0.04 | |
| Total votes | 48,917 | ||
General election
Prominent endorsements
- Officeholders
- David Condon, Mayor of Spokane[6]
- Michael Baumgartner, Former state senator (2011-2019) for the 6th district and candidate for County Treasurer[3]
- Ozzie Knezovich, sheriff of Spokane County[3]
- Individuals
- Phil Altmeyer, head of Spokane's Union Gospel Mission[3]
- Kate McCaslin, former CEO of the Inland Pacific Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc.[3]
- Chud Wendle, businessman and member of longtime prominent Spokane family[3]
- Walt Worthy, Spokane developer and property owner of among others the Davenport Hotel[3]
- Media
- Organizations
- Officeholders
- Andy Billig, Washington State Senate majority leader; 3rd district
- Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington[7]
- Timm Ormsby, state representative for the 3rd district[7]
- Marcus Riccelli, state representative for the 3rd district[7]
- Spokane City Council members Breean Beggs, Lori Kinnear, Candace Mumm and Karen Stratton[7]
- Individuals
- Sheri Barnard, former Mayor of Spokane (1990-1994)[7]
- Jack Geraghty, former Mayor of Spokane (1994-1998)[7]
- Joe Shogan, former Spokane City Council president[7]
- Organizations
Results
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nadine Woodward | 34,540 | 50.32% | |
| Ben Stuckart | 33,692 | 49.08% | |
| Under votes | 881 | 1.27% | |
| Write-in | 409 | 0.60% | |
| Over votes | 7 | 0.01% | |
| Total votes | 69,529 | ||
References
- ^ a b c d "Current Election Results". spokanecounty.org. Spokane County. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ "Is Nadine Woodward a Trump Voter". Fuse Washington. October 17, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Decker, Casey (August 28, 2019). "Who supports Spokane mayoral candidates? A look at major endorsements". KREM.com. KREM-TV. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ Walters, Daniel (November 7, 2019). "11 Reasons Why Ben Stuckart Lost". The Inlander. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ "Lisa Brown reflects on Congressional campaign, says she won't run for Spokane mayor | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Olivia (October 20, 2019). "Nadine Woodward endorsed by Spokesman-Review for mayoral run". KREM.com. KREM-TV. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Robinson, Erin (September 18, 2019). "Governor Jay Inslee endorses Ben Stuckart for Spokane mayor". KXLY.com. KXLY-TV. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ Although Woodward has been supported by and shares beliefs with Republicans, Woodward has never explicitly affiliated with the Republican Party.