Debora Juarez | |
---|---|
President of the Seattle City Council | |
Assumed office January 4, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Lorena González |
Member of the Seattle City Council from District 5 | |
Assumed office January 4,2016 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Personal details | |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | Seattle,Washington |
Education | Western Washington University (BA) Seattle University (JD) |
Occupation | Attorney |
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. [1]
Juarez is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. She grew up on the Puyallup Reservation in Tacoma,Washington with her five siblings. Her mother was Native American and her father was a first-generation Mexican-American. [2]
Juarez was the first member of her family to attend college. She earned an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University and then a JD from Seattle University School of Law. [3]
Juarez began working as a public defender while attending law school at night. She spent five years as a public defender and then worked an attorney for the Native American Project. She served two years as a King County Superior Court and City of Seattle Municipal Court pro-tem judge,and was the executive director of the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs under Mike Lowry and Gary Locke. [3] [2]
In 2015,Juarez was elected to the Seattle City Council's District 5 position,which represents the north end of Seattle. [4] [5] She was sworn in by her two daughters and a niece on Monday January 4,2016. [1] [6] Near the end of her first year in office, Crosscut.com described Juarez as a "wildcard councilmember" for her voting record and manner of "speaking more bluntly than most politicians would". [7] Juarez was reelected to City Council District 5 in 2019,winning with 60.59% of the vote over Ann Davison. [8]
As a councilmember,Juarez is well-known for focusing on her district and advocating for major capital projects,including the Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge over I-5 and a controversial police station in her district. [9] [10] [7] After members of the council were criticized for a 2016 vote against a street vacation necessary for a new arena to be built in the SoDo area,Juarez took a lead in the redevelopment of the Seattle Center Arena and was appointed chair of the Select Committee on Civic Arenas. [11] [12] [13] In September 2018,the council unanimously approved a renovation of the arena with plans to attract an NHL team to the city. [13]
She announced on December 12,2022 that she would not seek re-election in 2023. [14]
Juarez lives in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Seattle. [15]
In 2012,Juarez pleaded guilty to driving under the influence after crashing her car in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood. [16]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Debora Juarez | 6,635 | 39.25% | |
Nonpartisan | Sandy Brown | 3,360 | 19.88% | |
Nonpartisan | Halei Watkins | 2,431 | 14.38% | |
Nonpartisan | Kris Lethin | 1,307 | 7.73% | |
Nonpartisan | Mercedes Elizalde | 985 | 5.83% | |
Nonpartisan | Debadutta Dash | 968 | 5.73% | |
Nonpartisan | David Toledo | 959 | 5.67% | |
Nonpartisan | Hugh H. Russell | 231 | 1.37% | |
Nonpartisan | Write-in | 27 | 0.16% | |
Turnout | 17,224 | 29.72% | ||
Registered electors | 57,959 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Debora Juarez | 15,058 | 64.33% | |
Nonpartisan | Sandy Brown | 8,224 | 35.13% | |
Nonpartisan | Write-in | 126 | 0.54% | |
Majority | 6,834 | 29.20% | ||
Turnout | 26,301 | 45.06% | ||
Registered electors | 58,372 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Debora Juarez | 19,532 | 60.59% | |
Nonpartisan | Ann Davison Sattler | 12,588 | 39.05% | |
Nonpartisan | Write-in | 114 | 0.35% | |
Turnout | 34,192 | 53.35% | ||
Registered electors | 64,094 |
Jan Drago is an American politician and educator from Seattle who has served on both Seattle City Council and 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.
Timothy L. Burgess is an American journalist and politician from Seattle,Washington. He was a member of the Seattle City Council from 2007 to 2017,and served as Mayor of Seattle for 71 days in late 2017. Prior to his political career,Burgess was a radio journalist and Seattle Police Department (SPD) officer.
Michael J. O'Brien is an American politician and former member of the Seattle City Council who represented District 6 in northwest Seattle. He was first elected in 2009 to a different,city-wide council seat. He was the leading proponent of the opt-out list for the Yellow Pages. He was the only opponent of the proposed deep bore tunnel under downtown Seattle on the city council. He was chair of the local chapter of the Sierra Club before running for office. In this capacity,he was one of the leading opponents of the 2007 Roads and Transit ballot measure.
Kshama Sawant is an Indian-American politician and economist who has served on the Seattle City Council since 2014. She is a member of Socialist Alternative,the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.
NE 130th Street is a future station on Sound Transit's Link light rail system in Seattle,Washington,United States. It would be built on a section of the Lynnwood Link Extension,adjacent to the intersection of Interstate 5 and Northeast 130th Street in northern Seattle. The station was originally deferred from Lynnwood Link but restored as an infill station project under the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure,with an opening tentatively set for 2026.
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 Latinx 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.
Robert M. Johnson is an American politician. He served on the Seattle City Council representing the fourth district,covering northeast Seattle and the area around the University of Washington,from 2016 until his resignation in April 2019.
The 2017 Seattle mayoral election was held on November 7,2017. It was won by former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan,who beat civic activist Cary Moon in the general election by 15 percentage points. The two candidates had advanced from an earlier primary election held in August,which ensured that Seattle would have its first female mayor since Bertha Knight Landes was elected in 1926. Municipal elections are officially nonpartisan though most candidates have declared party affiliations.
Mitzi G. Johanknecht is an American police officer who served as the sheriff of King County,Washington from 2018 to 2022. Prior to her election in 2017,she served for 32 years at the King County Sheriff's Office,holding the rank of major.
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.
Girmay Hadish Zahilay is an American politician and lawyer who is a member of the King County Council from District 2 in Seattle,Washington. He was elected in 2019,defeating longtime incumbent Larry Gossett.
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.
Andrew Joseph Lewis is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the Seattle City Council representing District 7. He was an assistant city attorney prior to his election and also worked on political campaigns.
Alex Christopher Pedersen is an American politician serving as a member of the Seattle City Council for District 4. He was previously an aide to city councilmember Tim Burgess and a private sector housing finance analyst.
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.
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 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.
Juarez is well-known for her almost hypervigilant focus on her district, particularly during the council's annual budget deliberations.