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   From: amused@glaad.org   
      
   Seattle Mayor Ed Murray stepped to the podium, glanced at his   
   notes, then raised his eyes to face a row of cameras.   
      
   The day before, a lawsuit by a Kent man who says he was sexually   
   abused as a teenager by Murray decades ago had shaken the city.   
      
   “I have never backed down and I will not back down now,” the   
   mayor said Friday, vowing to continue his campaign for re-   
   election this year.   
      
   Though Murray’s gaze and words were defiant, the lawsuit and   
   similar allegations by two other men have wounded the mayor in a   
   race he was widely expected to win. Amid talk of new   
   challengers, there’s no doubt the political landscape has   
   changed.   
      
   How much? That’s an open question, and it’s one many in Seattle   
   aren’t ready to talk about, even with the filing deadline for   
   mayoral candidates less than two months away.   
      
   Some observers are calculating their next moves, while others   
   are reeling from hurt and confusion. No City Council members   
   have issued public statements.   
      
   “People need to give this a little time,” said John Wyble, a   
   longtime Seattle political consultant. “These are allegations.   
   Let’s see if we can find out more information.”   
      
   Wyble added, “We’re not at the point where we should be   
   discussing politics.”   
      
   Some scrambling and strategizing has already begun, however. In   
   an emailed statement shortly after The Seattle Times reported on   
   the claims against Murray, political operative Heather Weiner   
   cited them as a factor in this year’s mayoral contest.   
      
   “We’ve been working with a viable, resourced potential   
   challenger for a couple of months now,” said Weiner, a partner   
   at the Moxie Media consulting firm.   
      
   “Our firm has been leading a process to help this potential   
   candidate examine whether it would be in the best interests of   
   the city to run against Murray,” Weiner added, not naming the   
   prospective challenger. “Again, she has not yet made a decision,   
   but this development may push up her decision-making timeline.”   
      
   Nick Licata, who served 17 years on the City Council before   
   bowing out at the end of 2015, said he hopes people in Seattle   
   withhold judgment as the case plays out.   
      
   He said he hopes the city’s leaders don’t allow the claims   
   against Murray to distract them from civic challenges, such as   
   homelessness. But expecting the allegations to have no impact on   
   the mayor would be naive, the former council member said.   
      
   “The unfortunate political reality is that issues rarely drive   
   the pace and character of political campaigns. They more often   
   turn on personality,” Licata said.   
      
   “Given the atmosphere, with these allegations in the air, I   
   suspect that wannabe mayors are recalculating their chances …   
   I’m sure it’s happening as we speak.”   
      
   Whether the claims are true or not, Murray is damaged, Licata   
   said.   
      
   “You’re stuck with that story as the defendant,” he said. “It’s   
   going to be difficult for anyone in that position to try to   
   change the dynamic.”   
      
   Dan Savage, editorial director of The Stranger and a longtime   
   gay-rights activist, said on KUOW that he felt sad for Murray,   
   whom he has known for years, and the accusers, if they were   
   victimized. But he added: “I don’t see how Ed survives this   
   politically.”   
      
   “In sync with city”   
   Before news of the lawsuit broke, Murray’s week was shaping up   
   relatively well.   
      
   An announcement Monday that he was scrapping a plan for a $275   
   million property-tax ballot measure drew criticism from some   
   corners. But abandoning the controversial plan meant he wouldn’t   
   need to defend it to skeptics on the campaign trail.   
      
   The world’s largest boring machine — nicknamed Bertha — broke   
   into daylight Wednesday, completing the digging of the Alaskan   
   Way Viaduct replacement tunnel.   
      
   And the federal monitor overseeing Seattle’s court-ordered   
   police reform issued a glowing report Thursday morning, praising   
   a reduction in use of force by officers.   
      
   The abuse claims halted that momentum, with Murray abruptly   
   canceling a news conference where he and others had planned to   
   tout the police-reform report.   
      
   The attorney who represents the man suing Murray — identified in   
   the lawsuit as “D.H.” — kept the heat on the mayor Friday.   
   Lincoln Beauregard pushed for depositions to begin soon and   
   slammed Murray for not taking questions from reporters.   
      
   Yet Eugene Wasserman, president of the North Seattle Industrial   
   Association and an avowed Murray supporter, said he expects the   
   Democrat’s political career to survive.   
      
   “He obviously feels he can weather it,” Wasserman said, arguing   
   that the mayor can draw on a reservoir of goodwill earned during   
   a relatively successful first term.   
      
   Murray has struggled to handle homelessness, catching flak from   
   homeowners over unauthorized camps and from civil-rights   
   activists over the city’s sweeps of those camps.   
      
   And the mayor seemed at sea when he proposed and then quickly   
   withdrew a plan to allow duplexes, triplexes and stacked   
   apartments in single-family neighborhoods.   
      
   But Murray, who rose in the state Legislature as a champion of   
   gay rights, also can boast of progressive wins during his first   
   term as mayor, having led the city to a compromise on raising   
   the minimum wage and having persuaded voters to expand bus and   
   light-rail service.   
      
   Recently, he emerged as a national leader of sorts in the left-   
   wing resistance to policies emanating from Washington, D.C.,   
   suing President Donald Trump to preserve Seattle’s status as a   
   so-called sanctuary city not involved in immigration enforcement.   
      
   In a televised exchange with Murray on Wednesday night, visiting   
   New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted “a great deal of   
   envy” for Seattle’s accomplishments.   
      
   Murray’s politics are in sync with the city, said Wasserman, who   
   in 2015 ran a losing campaign against a Murray-backed property-   
   tax levy for transportation projects. “Even when I don’t agree   
   with him, most of the population does.”   
      
   Murray has a substantial head start on prospective opponents,   
   thanks to more than $305,000 in campaign contributions. Other   
   declared candidates, including safe-streets activist Andres   
   Salomon and educator Nikkita Oliver, have raised far less money.   
      
   “Between the unions and the developers, he has all the cash,”   
   Wasserman said.   
      
   In a statement Friday, Oliver offered no comment on the abuse   
   allegations, instead calling for a conversation about how the   
   city can better help vulnerable young people.   
      
   “We have no interest in politicizing tragedy,” she and the   
   Seattle Peoples Party said in a statement. “Hopefully we as a   
   city will stop to consider the serious issues this story   
   uncovers.”   
      
   Representatives for Murray have suggested the lawsuit is   
   politically motivated — timed to undermine the mayor’s re-   
   election bid at a crucial juncture.   
      
   “These false accusations are intended to damage a prominent   
   elected official who has been a defender of vulnerable   
   populations,” personal spokesman Jeff Reading said Thursday.   
      
      
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