Can this be over soon?
Can this be over soon? Nate Gowdy

Cary Moon just published a Facebook post asking journalists to stop pressuring community organizer Nikkita Oliver and the Peoples Party to endorse her for mayor. In the same post, she also expressed regret over not condemning a comment made by her opponent, Jenny Durkan, during a radio debate. Oliver had called the comment racist.

"Neither Nikkita nor the Peoples Party has any obligation to endorse any campaign. Nikkita herself has said both publicly and privately that she will be voting for me, that is enough," she wrote.

In her statement, Moon noted that the Peoples Party has critiqued the influence that endorsements play in Seattle elections, arguing that they are part of a system that perpetuates the exclusion of poor communities of color from the political process.

"Given this clear-eyed skepticism, why expect them to participate in it?" Moon's statement read. "This party emerged from rational mistrust of traditional political institutions and awareness of political figures making empty promises to sway votes."

There's a lot of background to unpack here. Here we go:

During a KVRU debate in Columbia City last week, Oliver sat on a panel of questioners that included former mayoral candidates and some journalists. At one point Oliver asked both candidates to make a case for her to endorse them. Moon said she'd share power in office, adding that she asked the Peoples Party (which put up Oliver as a candidate) to join her transition team. Durkan touted her background working on civil rights at the Justice Department.

Then, former mayor Mike McGinn asked Durkan a question about an independent expenditure (IE) group that has raised more than $500,000 in support of Durkan's candidacy. (IEs aren't allowed to coordinate with the candidates they are supporting.) According to the Seattle Times, Durkan responded by saying she did not ask for the IE group's help and criticized Moon for spending a large sum of her personal wealth on her campaign. Durkan said, if not for Moon's own cash, "it would probably be Nikkita Oliver and I sitting here.”

Moon in turn said she did not want to comment on Durkan's claim, adding she felt "uncomfortable" seeing Oliver "used."

Oliver later wrote on Twitter that she found the exchange racist. She also noted that both candidates could have supported her in the primary, but chose not to.


Oliver followed up with a longer post on Facebook, repeating her point that Durkan's comment was racist and calling Moon a "bad ally" for not condemning Durkan during the debate.

My colleagues soon weighed in on Slog. First, Stranger editorial director Dan Savage (my boss) wrote a post taking issue with Durkan for her comments about Moon's personal wealth and the claim that it helped her surpass Oliver in the primary. Savage's argument did not make a charge of racism, like Oliver's, but rather posited that Durkan "strongly implied Moon did something wrong by getting in the race in the first place." He claimed hypocrisy because it is doubtful Durkan would've stepped down if she faced Oliver in the general election.

Oliver called Savage's post "conjectured propaganda."

About an hour later, Stranger film editor Charles Mudede wrote a post criticizing Oliver for asking the candidates why she should endorse them, concluding that the question was not in good faith "because it already had an answer before it was made." Pointing to Oliver's Facebook comment about neither candidate supporting her primary run, he wrote that "Oliver believes that the decision to run against her was their first and final offense" and concluded that "Oliver does not want Moon to win."

Oliver called Mudede's post "conjectured propaganda" and criticized him for not asking her for comment.

Moon's Facebook post is the first time she's publicly commented on the KVRU debate and the resulting Slog takes. Here it is in full:

Moon first responds to Mudede and Savage by saying Oliver has no obligation to endorse her. You can read the statement for yourself, but this I think is the key part: "I know that I must earn the trust of black and brown communities, a process that will not end if I am elected."

Moon then addresses Oliver's statement that she is a "bad ally" for not calling racism on Durkan's comment during the KVRU debate, to which she is receptive.

"I learned from that, and—because allyship is an ongoing pursuit—I will do better next time this happens," Moon writes. "I hope to actualize my commitment to undoing racism through my actions as Mayor, and be held accountable when I fall short. Together we can work to create a more just world."

When asked for comment, Oliver said she is in Indiana with family and will respond later. I will update this post then.