Incumbent Pete Holmes concedes in city attorney race, calls Seattle 'ideologically splintered'

Seattle’s three-term city attorney Pete Holmes has conceded in his reelection bid.

In a statement released on Friday, Holmes wrote, "After two decades of public service to Seattle – the last 12 as your City Attorney – it’s time to acknowledge that my opponents will be advancing to the general election. While defeat is difficult to accept, it’s inconsequential compared to the collective pain we’ve suffered as a City throughout this pandemic."

The two candidates moving on to the general election are former public defender and abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and lawyer and arbitrator Ann Davison. Between them, Seattle may be poised to elect its first female city attorney.

Holmes was in second place on election night but slipped to third as more vote counts were released Thursday.

During a march for courthouse safety in downtown Seattle on Friday, Davison, who ran as a Republican for lieutenant governor, said electing a woman as city attorney would be an important milestone.

“When it comes to people who are vulnerable, women are often the ones who are the victims of crime, sheltered or unsheltered, and it is happening all throughout our city and it is time to center victims in this process," Davison said.

Davison's competitor in the general election, Thomas-Kennedy, ended the day polling in the lead with 35% of the vote, followed by Davison with 33%.

In his concession statement, Holmes noted that Thomas-Kennedy considered his policies too “draconian” while Davison called them overly lax. Holmes wished both women luck in the general election, saying, “With a city so ideologically splintered, whoever wins will certainly need it."