Mayoral candidates Cary Moon and Jenny Durkan react to Ed Murray's resignation

SEATTLE — The allegations against Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who resigned Tuesday, are now front and center in the race to replace him.

Both Cary Moon and Jenny Durkan called for Murray to resign -- months apart from one another.

Moon called for Murray to step down in May.

Durkan's statement calling for Murray's resignation arrived in KIRO 7's inbox less than an hour before Murray announced that he was resigning.

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Moon was in the middle of a press conference repeating her call for Murray to step aside when the news broke.

"Thank you. Thank you for finally stepping up and doing the right thing," Moon said.

"I think this fifth, sixth victim who is a family member who says, 'Enough is enough,' has got to hit people in the heart.  This is a child (Murray) lived with the family and abused a child in that family. That is not OK. That has got to be the last straw for people," Moon said.

Moon called Murray's excuses for the alleged abuse "shallow and desperate."

"Claiming the victims are motivated by politics, homophobia, due to a family feud, or suggesting that children shouldn't be believed is manipulative and immoral," Moon said.

Jenny Durkan accepted Murray's endorsement before the primary.

KIRO 7's Graham Johnson asked Durkan on Tuesday if she regretted doing so.

"I believe when someone endorses, they're saying who they believe has the best qualifications to be mayor. I'm very proud that many, many of the previous mayors have endorsed me," Durkan said.

Durkan had previously urged Murray to consider the best interests of the city when deciding whether he should remain in office.

"I think the focus has to be on moving forward. I called on the mayor to resign this morning. He did so. I think that's best for the city," Durkan said.

With regard to waiting until Tuesday to call for a resignation, Durkan said, "I believe in due process and I believe that people should have their say, and I think the people who've come forward, I've said before, I feel for them. I think it's a really sad day, not just for the city and the people involved, but it's a really hard and sad day for the LGBT community. We pin our hopes on our leaders and one of the most difficult stigmas and stereotypes that held us back is being reinforced today. That's really hard on people."

Cox Media Group