While Seattle's elected leaders and candidates for public office issue largely generic, equivocal statements about the allegations of sexual abuse against Mayor Ed Murray, city council candidate Jon Grant is taking things a step farther.

In a statement issued to reporters today, Grant says, "For the sake of the city, the mayor should step down." (Read his full statement below.)

Grant is an affordable housing advocate who ran against Council Member Tim Burgess in 2015 and won 45 percent of the vote. This year, as Burgess retires, Grant is running for his open seat and leads in fundraising for that race.

In his statement, Grant says, "the continued impact of these allegations on our civic culture is toxic."

"Silence is the currency of rape culture which will continue to perpetuate itself if we don’t speak out," Grant says, adding later, "It must not solely be the burden of survivors to hold alleged abusers accountable; it is up to all of us."

LGBTQ activist and survivor Danni Askini made a similar call here on Slog.

In a civil lawsuit filed April 6, 46-year-old Delvonn Heckard alleged that Murray raped and molested him over multiple years, paying him $10 to $20 for sex while Heckard was a teenager and Murray was in his 30s. Two other men who are not involved in that lawsuit—Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson—have also accused Murray of abusing them.

Murray has denied the allegations. He and his representatives have said repeatedly he does not plan to step down or drop out of the race for mayor.

Here's Grant's full statement:

Seattle has been rocked by the disturbing allegations of rape and abuse against Mayor Ed Murray. For weeks many of us have assumed the Mayor would step down and address the accusations as a private citizen. Instead he has dug in his heels and publicly called into question the character of his accusers, pointing to their criminal history and “troubled” past as proof of their untrustworthiness. This is almost the textbook example of why abuse survivors rarely step forward.

To be clear, I believe our Mayor is entitled to due process and should not be tried in the court of public opinion. However, his actions to publicly attack the character of alleged survivors of abuse only serve to perpetuate rape culture. We live in a society that stacks the deck against survivors of abuse to come out publicly, which perpetuates cycles of abuse and violence. The continued impact of these allegations on our civic culture is toxic. In light of this, I can not remain silent. I am calling on Ed Murray to resign as Seattle’s mayor and address these allegations as a private citizen.

Silence is the currency of rape culture which will continue to perpetuate itself if we don’t speak out. Currently only one community leader has called on Mayor Murray to step down. It must not solely be the burden of survivors to hold alleged abusers accountable; it is up to all of us. One in five girls and one in twenty boys experience child sexual abuse. We should not subject other survivors of abuse to the continued trauma of this case playing out in the press. For the sake of the city, the mayor should step down.