King County Elections added only 3,351 ballots to the City of Seattle count today, marking the end of these daily posts of mine. And again, Stranger-endorsed candidates did considerably better in these late ballots than they did in the first batch reported Tuesday night.
| Candidate | Aug 6 Drop | Aug 7 Drop | Aug 8 Drop | Aug 9 Drop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Murray | 30.24% | 30.47% | 28.69% | 26.66% |
| Mike McGinn | 27.15% | 29.80% | 31.95% | 30.41% |
| Richard Conlin | 49.16% | 46.77% | 44.66% | 41.02% |
| Kshama Sawant | 32.97% | 37.55% | 39.64% | 40.92% |
| Mike O'Brien | 57.37% | 61.11% | 62.32% | 61.40% |
| Albert Shen | 35.30% | 32.40% | 31.99% | 29.18% |
Of particular interest is the race for Council Position #2, where four-term incumbent Richard Conlin got only three more votes in today's batch than Socialist Alternative challenger Kshama Sawant, 1,193 to 1,190. Mike McGinn also out-polled Ed Murray for the second batch in a row.
In total, Murray now leads McGinn 29.92 percent to 28.39 percent, with a margin of just 2,115 votes—with so few ballots left to count, McGinn is unlikely to entirely close this gap. But the substantial movement we've seen in these late ballots means a narrow lead by Murray on general election night could lead to a week or two of nail-biting.
