Seattle mayor Nickels to sound positive note in likely matchup with Runte

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will face former University of Washington professor Al Runte in the Nov. 8 general election.

In early returns last night, Runte easily defeated five other little-known challengers hoping to take on Nickels and his bid for a second four-year term.

Nickels said he looked forward to a term with brighter economic news that would allow him to make additional investments in the city.

"We're going to have a great debate through the city," Nickels told a crowd of Democrats at a Seattle restaurant. "It's going to be civil. We're going to be on the issues. And at the end of that I look forward to us rolling up our sleeves and getting back to work."

Runte, 58, accused Nickels of being too cozy with developers while ignoring neighborhood concerns, such as deteriorating streets.

"Seattle people really want the neighborhoods to get addressed. They really think the city has taken some wrong turns," Runte said last night.

Runte, a first-time candidate who lives in the Wedgwood neighborhood, has raised $7,000 and scored few endorsements to challenge Nickels, who has raised $490,000. But Runte vowed to run a strong campaign.

"It's not a coronation. It's an election," he said.

Runte has maintained a long-running battle with the UW, his former employer, since he was denied tenure in 1985, effectively ending his teaching career. He sued the university twice, saying he'd been treated unfairly, but both suits were dismissed.

Meanwhile, Runte has worked from his home as an independent scholar, specializing in national parks.

Nickels, 50, was a member of the Metropolitan King County Council before being elected mayor four years ago in one of the tightest mayoral races in city history.

He has brought a combative tenor to politics at City Hall and has often clashed with the City Council over control of city departments and policies. Nickels has pushed an economic-development agenda, including taller buildings downtown and city support for billionaire Paul Allen's vision of remaking South Lake Union as a biotech hub.

A longtime supporter of mass transit who serves on the Sound Transit board, Nickels announced last week he would no longer support the embattled Seattle Monorail Project and demanded another public vote on the future of the proposed rail line from Ballard to West Seattle.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com