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Moon nearly clinches second spot in Seattle mayor's race

Cary Moon is closer to clinching the second spot on the November ballot after King County Elections posted new results Thursday afternoon.

Urban planner Moon has 16.72 percent of the vote and has increased her lead to 2578 votes over lawyer Nikkita Oliver, who has 14.88 percent of the vote. Former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan remains in first place with 30.19 percent.

Today’s counting added 37,921 Seattle ballots to the total.

We asked Seattle University political scientist Marco Lowe whether these new numbers mean the two contenders for November have been decided.

"It definitely looks good for Cary Moon," Lowe said. "However, we still have one more big ballot drop to go tomorrow and after that we'll really know for sure if she is going to the general (election) against Jenny Durkan."

Moon is reaching out to Oliver to form a coalition to take on Durkan in the fall. But Lowe believes that may not help her very much.

“Voters rarely see themselves as that connected (to a candidate). Voting is a decision, not a pledge. So if you see somebody that you like, you’ll go with them. I think it also means you’ll find somebody else you like in the general and it may not be because the person you liked asked you to vote for them," Lowe said.

This is the first day that ballots put in drop boxes have been included in the count. King County Elections says roughly 55,000 ballots from all over the county will be included in Friday’s count.