The 2001 Seattle mayoral election took place on November 6, 2001. King County CouncilmanGreg Nickels defeated Seattle City AttorneyMark Sidran by a margin of 3,000 votes (out of 172,000 cast), becoming the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington. The final count was not tabulated until November 16 because of absentee ballots and the nature of the race, and was the closest Seattle mayoral election since 1912.[1] Incumbent mayor Paul Schell failed to advance out of the primary, becoming the first incumbent not to advance since 1938.