Nickels lobs barrage of attacks at Mallahan

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and his allies have launched a late barrage of attacks on challenger Joe Mallahan, the T-Mobile executive who has surged in recent polls.

The effort, funded by business and labor interests, seeks to discredit Mallahan for his lack of civic engagement and to turn his T-Mobile experience into a liability.

Mallahan's campaign released a Web video in response Thursday, accusing "career politician Greg Nickels and his special interest cronies" of "lies, distortions and gross exaggeration."

A union-funded PAC called the Working Families Coalition, began its anti-Mallahan effort Thursday by spamming 63,000 recorded phone calls to voters. The calls ask, "How much do we really know about Joe Mallahan?"

They describe T-Mobile as a company that has resisted unionization and shipped some jobs overseas. "That's why labor unions oppose Joe Mallahan," the calls say.

Mallahan, a vice president at the Bellevue-based wireless phone company, has said he was not involved with such policies. He says he disagrees with some of the company's stances and has taken pains to declare his support for unions.

A second anti-Mallahan PAC, called Qualified Leadership for Seattle, is funded by unions and business leaders including Nickels supporters and some backers of Seattle City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Jan Drago. That PAC plans 68,000 robo-calls starting Saturday, focusing on Mallahan's failure to vote in many elections and his "limited portfolio of community engagement," said Adam Glickman-Flora, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union, who organized both PACs.

The two PACs combined have received $43,000 in contributions and pledges, according to filings with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. The effort comes just days before the Aug. 18 primary.

Contributors include billionaire Paul Allen's development company, Vulcan, other development and construction firms and unions representing carpenters, food-service workers, Boeing machinists and others.

Vulcan spokesman David Postman said Mallahan has escaped hard questions in part because his campaign is well-funded.

"He's been portrayed as kind of the cool new thing," he said. "That's the story line, but nobody put together what really look like a series of ... instances that should give one pause."

Mallahan was a virtual unknown in local political circles before he abruptly announced he'd run for mayor in May. He attracted immediate attention with a pledge of $200,000 to his own campaign.

While he has impressed some groups and scored endorsements with his message that City Hall needs new, competent management, Mallahan has also, at times, displayed an ignorance of city and neighborhood issues. Nickels campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik said the mayor's campaign did not coordinate the new round of attacks on Mallahan, but he welcomed them.

Mallahan, Kaushik said, "has offered very little of substance to judge what direction he would like to take the city in."

As voting in the vote-by-mail primary winds down, Nickels is in a precarious position. He suffers from poor job-approval ratings and has been hammered all summer by challengers.

His campaign has spent all of the $560,000 it raised as of this week. (In 2005, facing only weak challengers, Nickels ended the primary with about $150,000 still in the bank.)

The Nickels campaign has shifted tactics in recent days, lashing out against the challengers who seem to have the most momentum. In addition to Mallahan, Nickels has attacked Mike McGinn, the waterfront tunnel opponent who also has fared well in polls.

After tangling with McGinn on the tunnel earlier this week, the Nickels campaign turned its attention to Mallahan in a Web video.

"Joe don't know Jack," the video sneered, trying to make the case that Mallahan is not informed enough to be mayor.

The video criticizes Mallahan over reports that he'd missed at least six of the past 18 elections.

On Thursday, the Nickels campaign pointed out that Mallahan has actually missed even more than that — at least 10 since he registered to vote in Seattle in 2000. Among the elections Mallahan skipped were the past two mayoral primaries in 2001 and 2005.

The video also accuses Mallahan of making unverified claims, such as his accusation that the city used "toxic paint" in its bike lanes. The city says it uses nontoxic, water-based paint, and stickers that use a toxic adhesive but the glue dries in under a minute. Mallahan campaign spokeswoman Charla Neuman maintained the toxic-paint claim is true but acknowledged she can't prove it. Her source, she said, is a city employee who will not talk publicly.

The ad also accuses Mallahan of misstating the amount of money Seattle spends on senior services. Mallahan's figure pertained to what the city spends on senior centers, not senior services overall.

Mallahan has joyfully bashed Nickels throughout the campaign, slamming the mayor during endorsements and forums more frequently than any other candidate in the race. But in response to Nickels' negative ad Wednesday, Mallahan said he was taking the high road.

"I'm focused on my own campaign and my own issues," he said. "I'm flattered to see he views me as a threat."

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com. Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246