SPOKANE, Wash. — Nadine Woodward won the 2019 Spokane mayoral race on Nov. 5.
Current Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart conceded to Woodward after the first ballot count.
Nadine Woodward leads the Spokane mayoral race over Ben Stuckart after the last scheduled ballot count, receiving 50.32 percent of the votes to Stuckart's 49.08 percent as of Wednesday, Nov. 20.
"Nadine has won the election to be the mayor of Spokane," Stuckart said in front of his supporters. “Elections are hard fought, they can be loud, and angry and expensive. The citizens of Spokane have had their voices heard and now it is time to unite behind mayor-elect Woodward and allow her to lead Spokane through this next phase of growth for our great city."
In total, 156,803 ballots were counted. In the mayor's race, Woodward received 34, 531 votes compared to 33,682 votes for Stuckart.
"Spokane, we did it! This is not about a candidate, it is about our city," Woodward said. “I got into this race to make an impact on the city that I love, to represent the change that voters wanted and to listen and be a voice for you.”
During her victory speech, Woodward said she will surround herself with experts to move the city forward and be its biggest advocate.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together for a common vision, the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward collective objectives, and it’s the fuel that allows uncommon people to obtain uncommon results. Spokane, we will be a model for regional collaboration. Spokane cannot do all of this on its own, and we will achieve extraordinary results,” she said.
During his concession speech, Stuckart said, "We spent over $1.2 million on this election and money is the root of all problems in politics.”
The election will not be made official until Nov. 26.
For a full list of results for races in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, visit the KREM Election page.