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Seattle mayor will ask Amazon to do part of its headquarters expansion here

As Amazon looks elsewhere in North America for a second headquarters, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Friday he will ask the company to consider doing some of that expansion in the Puget Sound area.

"I'm very interested in seeing if a piece of what they want to do they could do here," Murray said.

Amazon's announcement has prompted some soul-searching about whether Seattle is anti-business.

The city recently increased the minimum wage and passed an income tax on high earners.

"I don't think Seattle's anti-business. I think some of the political rhetoric is fairly anti-business," Murray said.

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"I think we have a discussion in Seattle where the left tries to out-left the left and the left," Murray said. "When I go to conferences of mayors, I'm considered basically a socialist. When I come back to Seattle, I'm considered a neo-conservative. So sometimes I think our own rhetoric gets us in trouble."

KIRO 7 spoke with both candidates for Murray's job, former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan and urban planner Cary Moon.

Moon said she questions the idea of inviting Amazon to do a major expansion in Seattle, a city already struggling to keep up with growth.

"Let's hold with what we have, and let's keep Amazon here, and if they want to set up a second satellite in a different city in a different state, that might be a sensible thing to do," Moon said.

Durkan said the city should focus on issues like affordability and transportation that matter to residents and businesses.

"I'm very optimistic about Seattle and its future and I think if we continue to work with Amazon and other businesses to show them what a great place it is to live and work that they'll continue to want to be here," Durkan said.