Elections
In 2013,Seattle voters approved changing seven of the nine at-large district seats to district-based starting in 2015. [5] In 2015,Juarez ran for the district 5 postion,which represents North Seattle and had no incummbent councilmember. [6] [7] In the August primary,Juarez came in first against seven challengers,with 39.25%,and advanced to the general election with ex-clergy member Sandy Brown,who earned 19.88% of the vote. [6] [8]
A key focus of the general election was increasing the number of sidewalks in the district,which had the highest density of streets without sidewalks. [7] [9] Brown ran on creating local improvement districts to pay for sidewalks,which Juarez criticised saying that they would unfairly benefit wealthy neighborhoods. [10] Juarez supported imposing developer impact fees as well as pushing for greater funding for sidewalks in SDOT's budget. [10] In the November general election,Juarez defeated Brown,64% to 35%. [11] [12]
Juarez ran for reelection in 2019 and faced five challengers in the primary. [13] [14] In the August primary,Juarez came in first with 45.1% of the vote and advanced to the general election with lawyer Ann Davison Sattler,who earned 26.71%. [14] [15] In the general election,Juaez focused her campaign on major projects she brought to the district,including the NHL training facility and a future light rail station. [16] She and Davison Sattler sparred on homelessness,with Juarez focusing on increasing funding and affordable housing,while Davison Sattler focused on housing up to 2,000 homeless people into abandoned warehouses while not increasing funding for homelessness services. [16] [17] [18]
In the general election,Juarez defeated Davison Sattler,60.59% to 39.05%. [19] [20]
Tenure
Juarez was the first Indigenous person to serve as a Seattle city councilmember,and later the first Indigenous Council President. [4] She was sworn in by her two daughters and a niece on Monday,January 4,2016. [1] [21] 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". [22]
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 Interstate 5 and a controversial police station in her district. [23] [24] [22] She lobbied Sound Transit to add the Northeast 130th station on the Link light rail system to their 2016 ballot measure,which was passed. [25] 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. [26] [27] [28] In September 2018,the council unanimously approved a renovation of the arena with plans to attract an National Hockey League team to the city. [28]
She announced on December 12,2022,that she would not seek re-election in 2023. [29] Juarez was appointed to the District 5 seat in July 2025 to serve the rest of Cathy Moore's term after her resignation. [30]
