Sara Nelson has defeated Nikkita Oliver in the high-profile race for Seattle City Council Position 9.
A new batch of ballot counts Thursday confirmed Nelson’s win, which had already seemed likely given her large lead on election night. She led with 57% of the vote.
While Oliver had gained some ground since Tuesday, they would need to capture an estimated 72% of the remaining vote. Oliver received 51% of the ballots counted Thursday, trailing by nearly 30,000 votes.
Nelson, 55, a former Seattle City Council aide and Fremont Brewing co-founder, had campaigned against dysfunction at City Hall, arguing the council was neglecting city services while consumed with left-wing political movement-building.
“Now it’s time to come together and rebuild our city,” she tweeted on Thursday, with a photo of a rainbow.
Oliver, 35, an anti-racism activist, attorney and nonprofit leader, advocated sweeping changes including ending single-family exclusive zoning throughout the city and defunding the police by 50%.
In the less-watched race for Council Position 8, incumbent Teresa Mosqueda defeated Kenneth Wilson, a bridge engineer who surprised some with a reasonably strong showing despite being little-known and vastly outspent.
Mosqueda had about 56% of the vote after Thursday’s vote count, to 44% for Wilson.
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