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.)
Jean H. Godden was a member of the Seattle City Council,first elected in 2003 and re-elected in 2007 and 2011. Council member Godden served three terms before losing her seat to Rob Johnson in the 2015 election. She chaired the Libraries,Utilities,and Center Committee and the Special Committee on Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Project and Central Waterfront Planning. She was also Vice Chair of the Parks and Neighborhood Committee and was a member of the Transportation Committee. Jean also was an alternate on the Parks and Seattle Center Committee.
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 far-left 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.
Teresa Carmen Mosqueda is an American politician and labor activist from Seattle,Washington. She is a member of the King County Council and has represented District 8 since 2024. Mosqueda was previously a member of the Seattle City Council from 2017 to 2023,in at-large position 8.
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.
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.
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.
Andrew Joseph Lewis is an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Seattle City Council from District 7. He was an assistant city attorney prior to his election to city council,and also worked on political campaigns.
Alex C. Pedersen is an American politician and former member of the Seattle City Council. He represented Seattle's District 4,which includes Wallingford,the University District,and Sand Point,from November 2019 until completing his term of office in December 2023. Previously,Pedersen was 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.
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.
