Seattle Elects Gay Mayor Ed Murray

Seattle elected the city's first openly gay mayor when state senator Ed Murray defeated current Mayor Mike McGinn with 56% of the vote Tuesday night.

McGinn, who earned 43% of the vote, said he expected to concede once all the votes came in (in Washington voting is done completely by mail, just like in neighboring Oregon).

The two ran campaigns targeted toward Seattle's left-leaning politics, including support for a $15 minimum wage, new taxes, and making marijuana use legal, according to the Associated Press.

Murray was instrumental in bringing marriage equality to Washington in 2012 as a state senator. According to the Seattle Times, Murray's campaign embraced and even touted his marriage equality efforts as his signature legislative accomplishment. When addressing supporters Tuesday night, Murray, 58, was joined onstage by his husband, Michael Shiosaki. The two wed over the summer.