SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state senator has entered the race for Seattle mayor.
Seattlepi.com reports Democratic Sen. Bob Hasegawa of Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood made the announcement Monday in a news release.
Spokesman Michael Charles says Hasegawa will run on an "economic justice agenda."
Mayor Ed Murray has said he will run for re-election but his campaign has been troubled since a Seattle-area man filed a lawsuit in April claiming Murray paid him for sex when the man was a teenager in the 1980s.
Murray has repeatedly denied the claims, arguing that the suit is politically motivated.
Hasegawa joins a crowded field of contenders including former mayor Mike McGinn and activist Cary Moon.
Hasegawa was elected to the state House in 2005 and won a seat in the state Senate in 2012.
