Seattle city elections generally produce a predictable result: close elections in which the most progressive candidates – endorsed by The Stranger newspaper – surge ahead in the vote counts after Election Night.

But that’s not what we saw last night. The candidates endorsed by The Seattle Times are far ahead of The Stranger’s candidates in all three races for open positions. Surprisingly, the only close result in the initial vote count was in the race for Council Position 8, where incumbent Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (who was endorsed by The Stranger while The Seattle Times endorsed neither candidate) had a stronger-than-expected challenge from Kenneth Wilson.

For several years, polls have shown increasing frustration with Seattle City Government, most especially the City Council. This year, voters translated their displeasure with eroding public safety and ineffective solutions for addressing the needs of the homeless into votes for candidates who promised stronger action to get the city back on the right track.

Although these early leads will probably shrink over time, Bruce Harrell (Mayor), Sara Nelson (Council Position 9), and Ann Davison (City Attorney) are all considered certain winners. Councilmember Mosqueda’s share of the vote is also expected to rise as late votes are counted. Here are the initial vote counts for the four citywide positions:

Mayor

Bruce Harrell                                      64.63%

Lorena Gonzalez                                 35.02%

City Attorney

Ann Davison                                        58.25%

Nicole Thomas Kennedy                     40.96%

Council Position 8

Teresa Mosqueda                               52.40%

Kenneth Wilson                                   47.10%

Council Position 9

Sara Nelson                                        60.31%

Nikkita Oliver                                      39.46%

We will update these results in next week’s Inside Washington Retail. Click here, here, and here for more analysis of the Seattle results.