美国国家公共电台 NPR Seattle Mayor Drops Re-Election Bid, Says Sex Abuse Allegations Are Untrue

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The mayor of Seattle announced Tuesday that he is not running for re-election. This is because of allegations that he sexually abused minors² three decades ago. NPR's Martin Kaste has more from Seattle.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: Ed Murray's a skilled, bare-knuckled politician, and it was assumed that he'd cruise to re-election this year. But a few weeks ago, he was sued by a man named Delvonn Heckard. He says back in the '80s, Murray paid him for sex when Heckard was still a minor¹. That suit echoed claims made by other men a decade ago, but Murray vehemently⁴ denied wrongdoing. He even got a doctor to rebut⁵ certain anatomical evidence that was offered by his accuser. But finally, yesterday, Murray gave up on re-election.

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ED MURRAY: The allegations against me paint me in the worst possible historic portraits of a gay man. The allegations against me are not true, and I say this with all honesty and with the deepest sincerity⁶. But the scandal surrounding them and me is hurting this city.

KASTE: It's a sobering end to the political career of a man who pushed through civil unions in the state legislature and then became Seattle's first mayor in a same-sex marriage. Geov Parrish is a political analyst⁷ here. He'd urged Murray to bow out, but he says there are some lingering misgivings⁸ about how these unproven allegations have brought this mayor down.

GEOV PARRISH: The gay community is really concerned about how this applies to them, especially gay men, because of course the conservative critique of gay men in caricature for many, many years was, well, you know, we're all pedophiles.

KASTE: But in the end, Seattle's liberal political establishment turned its back on Murray, in large part because of the aggressive way he attacked the credibility of his accusers, who have criminal records. Many here saw that as blaming the victim. Parrish says that if these claims don't stick in court, it will be very sad that they were enough to end Murray's political career. Martin Kaste, NPR News, Seattle.

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