Incumbents appear safe in Seattle City Council primary
Seattle voters started to narrow a sprawling list of 45 City Council candidates in the first wave of results posted during Tuesday’s primary election. As more ballots are counted in the coming days, the outcome of the district races will determine control of a largely new council.
With seven of nine council seats on the ballot, voters were tasked with whittling down the list of potential representatives for each geographic district of the city.
ELECTION 2023 Washington primary 2023 election results
The three incumbents — District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales, District 6 Councilmember Dan Strauss and District 7 Councilmember Andrew Lewis — predictably led their fields, indicating they are all but certain to emerge from the primary and face a top challenger in the general election.
In each of four open races — Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5 — one progressive and one centrist led.
Standings in each race may change as a few hundred thousand more ballots are expected to be counted later this week. King County officials predicted 35% voter turnout, which is on par for an election that doesn’t include state or federal offices.
Tuesday night, the elections office said 23.5% of ballots had been received countywide, totaling 325,157. There are 1.3 million active registered voters in King County.
Advertising
The top two vote-getters in each of Seattle’s seven district races advance to the Nov. 7 general election. There are two at-large seats not on the ballot until 2025.
District 1
Councilmember Lisa Herbold’s decision to not seek reelection drew eight council hopefuls, one of the largest pools of candidates clawing for a seat.
Maren Costa, a climate activist known for facing off with former employers Amazon and Microsoft over environmental policies, led Tuesday with 29.1% of votes counted, and Rob Saka, a finance attorney, held second place with 25.4% of the vote.
Costa said she’s feeling “optimistically hopeful” about the early results.
“The progressive vote usually comes in a little later, so hopefully this is my low watermark,” said Costa, who spent the night at a watch party at her sister’s house in West Seattle.
“Nothing is certain until it’s official,” Saka said Tuesday. “I think these are really encouraging numbers, but we’ll have to wait until they’re more finalized.”
Advertising
Phil Tavel, an administrative law judge, was not far behind in third place with 21.4% of the vote.
District 1’s boundaries include West Seattle, Pioneer Square, Sodo and Georgetown, among other neighborhoods.
District 2
After earning 48.1% of counted ballots, Morales, who represents the Chinatown International District and South Seattle, including Mount Baker and Rainier Beach, must stave off CID community activist Tanya Woo, who received 45.4% of the vote.
Morales and Woo figured to be the top two candidates headed to the general election, based on prior community involvement — Morales a former labor organizer and one of the council’s most progressive members, Woo an organizer with Chinatown International District Community Watch. The district is the most diverse in Seattle in terms of race and income levels.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect tonight. What we know is that each subsequent ballot drop gets progressively more progressive,” said Morales, who is seeking a second term. “I feel confident that by the time all the ballots are counted we will be leading with a pretty good margin.”
Woo said she was encouraged by the close race.
“I feel a tremendous amount of support, and I’m really excited,” Woo said Tuesday. “And I think, you know, I’ve seen the changes here in South Seattle. And I’ve been fighting to give voices to or amplify voices in neighborhoods that aren’t commonly heard.”
Advertising
District 3
With three-term Councilmember Kshama Sawant, the council’s senior member and only socialist, leaving at the end of the year, eight candidates fought to represent Capitol Hill, the Central District and Leschi during District 3’s first vacancy in a decade.
Cannabis business owner Joy Hollingsworth took the lead with 40.1% of the vote, while Transportation Choices Coalition Executive Director Alex Hudson was second at 32.4%.
Hollingsworth was in the middle of a speech to a room of around 40 of her supporters when the results came in. The room erupted into cheers.
“That’s good. That’s really good, I guess,” Hollingsworth said at the MLK FAME Community Center.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell came to congratulate Hollingsworth. Introducing him on stage, Hollingsworth described Harrell as someone who has known her since she was a baby. Harrell noted Hollingsworth was his only endorsement across seven races.
Hudson said she’s not concerned about losing any ground to the candidates trailing her. Instead, she expects to pick up steam.
Sponsored
“We’re feeling great, we’re feeling really strong,” Hudson said. “The historic trend is that the late votes tend to be more progressive, and we’re the progressive candidate in this race.”
Bobby Goodwin, a public defender, was in third place with 11.2%.
District 4
The northeast district, which encompasses Wallingford, the University District, Wedgwood and Laurelhurst, had the fewest competitors of any open seat, attracting just four candidates.
Ron Davis, a tech consultant, and Maritza Rivera, deputy director of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture, led with 40.9% and 34%, respectively, in the race to replace single-term Councilmember Alex Pedersen.
“We’re exactly where we planned to be,” Davis said. “The fact that we came out on top suggests that northeast Seattle is more progressive than people give it credit for, it’s more welcoming in terms of change than people give it credit for.”
In the corner of a crowded U District bar overlooking Portage Bay, Rivera climbed aboard a bamboo chair and declared victory in the primary.
“We did it!” Rivera shouted, her arms in the air. “We’re on to the general!”
Advertising
Ken Wilson, a civil engineer, held third place with 22.7%.
Wilson, who lost to Teresa Mosqueda in a City Council race in 2021, said the results were “not where we want to be. We’ll see.”
District 5
In the race to represent North Seattle, Cathy Moore, a former King County Superior Court judge, led with 32.3%, while ChrisTiana ObeySumner, a social equity consultant, held second place with 21.4%.
On a phone call Tuesday, Moore said her lead “shows that the voters of Seattle are ready for strong, pragmatic, thoughtful leadership.”
District 5, which includes Greenwood, Northgate and Lake City, drew the largest number of candidates, 10, in the race to replace outbound Council President Debora Juarez.
Nilu Jenks, a community advocate, was in third place with 19% of the vote.
“I’m grateful to the voters of District 5 for believing that we can have a city that prioritizes public safety, affordability and climate leadership,” Jenks said.
Advertising
District 6
Strauss, who’s seeking a second term, captured 50.8% of votes in the district that includes Ballard, Fremont and Magnolia. In second was Pete Hanning, executive director for the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, with 29.6% of the vote.
As the only candidate in any district to exceed 50% of the vote in initial primary returns, Strauss said he felt confident that his results pointed to a sound win in the general election. His lead in Tuesday’s primary exceeded the lead he held in his last primary in 2019, he said.
“I’m feeling good. But I’m not going to let up,” Strauss said. “There’s a lot more work to do.”
District 7
Lewis, who’s seeking a second term, held first place with 40.9% of the vote, while Retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Kettle was second at 33%.
Lewis was optimistic about the performance of progressive campaigns Tuesday night, including his own.
“We are in a really good position right now,” Lewis said in a phone call. “Progressive candidates gained significantly tonight.”
Advertising
Kettle said support for alternative candidates posed a significant threat to Lewis.
“I’m thrilled with tonight’s results, and I think it shows a mandate for a pragmatic alternative to our city’s biggest challenges,” Kettle said, claiming that “a clear majority of our district is rejecting the incumbent.”
Restaurateur Olga Sagan was in third place with 14.1%.
District 7 includes downtown, which has put Lewis in the spotlight on issues such as public drug use. The district also includes South Lake Union and Queen Anne.
More ballots to count
A tug of war between two factions of largely Democratic representatives on the council has created tension — and often gridlock — around the city’s most contentious issues in recent years, including taxation, policing and any area of politics where the needs of individuals and businesses fracture.
With the four open seats, voters could easily cast either side — the liberal wing or the moderates — as a majority after the dust settles and clear winners emerge in November. Another factor is the potential departure of at-large Councilmember Mosqueda, who is running for the District 8 seat on the Metropolitan King County Council. She will face Burien Mayor Sofia Aragon in the general election.
If Mosqueda wins, the new City Council majority will appoint a replacement. Sara Nelson serves as the other at-large council member.
Staff reporters Claire Bryan, Camilo Fonseca, Lauren Girgis, Greg Kim, David Kroman, Lulu Ramadan, Conrad Swanson, Filip Timotija, Claire Withycombe and Amanda Zhou contributed to this report.
Source: The Seattle Times
