The Metropolitan King County Council,the legislative body of King County,Washington,consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws,sets policy,and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure is the result of a merger of King County and the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle,better known as Metro,which was a federated county-city structure responsible for water quality and public transportation.
The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle,Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms,seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-large positions;all elections are non-partisan. It has the sole responsibility of approving the city's budget,and develops laws and policies intended to promote the health and safety of Seattle's residents. The Council passes all legislation related to the city's police,firefighting,parks,libraries,and electricity,water supply,solid waste,and drainage utilities. (The mayor of Seattle is not considered part of council.)
Robert Watson Ferguson is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 18th attorney general of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party,he was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Prior to serving as attorney general,Ferguson was a member of the King County Council.
Bruce Allen Harrell is an American politician and attorney serving as the 57th and current mayor of Seattle,Washington. He was a member of the Seattle City Council from 2008 to 2020. From 2016 to 2020,he was president of the city council. He was acting mayor of Seattle from September 13 to 18,2017. He was elected mayor in his own right in the 2021 Seattle mayoral election,becoming the second Black mayor since Norm Rice,and the first African-Asian American mayor of the city.
Kshama Sawant is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She is a member of Socialist Alternative,the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.
Debora Juarez is an American lawyer and politician serving as the president of the Seattle City Council. She was first elected in 2015 to represent the 5th district. A member of the Blackfeet Nation,she was the first Native American person elected to the council.
Maria Lorena González is an American lawyer and former politician who was a member of the Seattle City Council from position 9. She was the first Latino elected to the council. She was a candidate for mayor of Seattle in 2021 but was defeated by Bruce Harrell 59 percent to 41 percent.
Lisa Anne Herbold is an American politician. She serves on the Seattle City Council representing the 1st District,which covers part of West Seattle. She was first elected in 2015 after narrowly defeating Shannon Braddock,and was sworn into office on January 4,2016. She was reelected in November 2019.
The Seattle head tax,officially the employee hours tax (EHT),was a proposed head tax to be levied on large employers in Seattle,Washington,United States. The head tax was proposed in 2017 to fund homeless services and outreach and was set at a rate of $275 annually per employee,with hopes of raising up to $50 million annually.
Tammy Janine Morales is an American politician from Seattle,Washington. She was elected to represent District 2 on the Seattle City Council in November 2019.
Daniel Aaron Strauss is an American politician who serves on the Seattle City Council from District 6. A native of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood,he previously worked as an aide to local politicians,including Seattle councilmember Sally Bagshaw.
The 2021 Seattle mayoral election was held on November 2,2021,to elect the Mayor of Seattle. It was won by former Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell,who defeated then-current President Lorena González;both candidates had advanced from a nonpartisan primary election on August 3.
Kirsten Harris-Talley is an American politician who served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 37th legislative district.
The 2021 Seattle City Council 3rd district recall election was held on December 7,2021. Kshama Sawant,a member of the Seattle City Council from the 3rd district,defeated an attempt to recall her. This was the first recall election held in Seattle since the one held against Mayor Wesley C. Uhlman in 1975,and the first for a city councilor in the city's history.
The 2019 Seattle City Council election was held on November 5,2019. Seven seats of the nine-member Seattle City Council were up for election. Four incumbent members of the city council did not run for reelection while the remaining three incumbents all won reelection.
The 2021 Seattle City Council election were held on November 2,2021. Two seats of the nine-member Seattle City Council were up for election.
The 2024 Washington gubernatorial election will be held on November 5,2024. The top-two primary will be held on August 6.
The 2021 Seattle City Attorney election was held on November 2,2021. Incumbent City Attorney Pete Holmes sought reelection to a fourth term in office,but came third place in the officially nonpartisan August 3 primary election and failed to advance to the general election,with both Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and Ann Davison finishing ahead of Holmes in the primary. Davison defeated Thomas-Kennedy in the general election.
Sara E. Nelson is an American businesswoman and politician serving as a member of the Seattle City Council from Position 9. A member of the Democratic Party,she defeated Nikkita Oliver in the 2021 election. On January 2,2024,the city council voted unanimously to appoint her City Council President upon the retirement of Debora Juarez.
The 2023 Seattle City Council election was held on November 7,2023,following a primary election on August 1. The seven district-based seats of the nine-member Seattle City Council are up for election;the districts were modified based on the results of the 2020 census. Four incumbent members of the city council did not seek reelection.
