Seattle mayor won’t mount write-in campaign

SEATTLE – Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says he won’t stage a write-in campaign to try to secure a second term after a man who had accused him of sexual abuse announced plans to drop a lawsuit.

Murray, who had said earlier this month he was exploring a write-in bid, on Thursday said he was endorsing former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan. Murray abandoned his re-election bid in early May after four men claimed he sexually abused them when they were teenagers, allegations he vehemently denied.

Last month a man who in a lawsuit alleged Murray paid him for sex when he was a teenager in the 1980s asked a court to dismiss the legal action.

Murray was the favorite to win before the lawsuit emerged in early April. Besides Durkan other high-profile candidates in the race include former Mayor Mike McGinn and community activist and lawyer Nikkita Oliver.