- Source: 2023 Seattle City Council 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.
All seven contests in the general election were between a more moderate candidate endorsed by The Seattle Times and a more progressive candidate endorsed by The Stranger. Seattle Times endorsees won 5 of the 7 races, marking a significant shift from the 2019 Seattle City Council election, in which more progressive Stranger-endorsed candidates won 6 of the 7 contested seats.
Background
The Seattle Redistricting Commission approved a new map for the city council districts on November 8, 2022. The 2023 election cycle was the fourth to use Seattle's democracy voucher program. At least 16,000 people utilized the democracy voucher program during this election.
District 1
= Campaign
=Incumbent councilor Lisa Herbold, first elected in the 2015 election, announced on December 9, 2022, that she would not seek reelection. She stated that she did not want the election in the 1st district to repeat the 2021 Seattle City Attorney election in which Ann Davison, a Republican, was elected against a divided progressive field.
Preston Anderson, a social worker and unsuccessful candidate in the 2019 Pierce County Council election, and Maren Costa, a leader of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice that National Labor Relations Board ruled to be illegally fired by Amazon, announced their campaigns in January 2023. Rob Saka, a lawyer for Meta Platforms who was a member of the King County Districting Committee and the committee that selected Seattle Police Chief Adrian Z. Diaz, announced his campaign on February 14.
Phil Tavel, an administrative law judge who unsuccessful ran against Herbold in 2019, announced his candidacy on February 28. Stephen Brown, the co-owner of Eltana Bagels, announced his campaign on March 7, and stated that he considered running for office "during the height of the Black Lives Matter, George Floyd protests, and CHOP occupancy". Lucy Barefoot, Jean Craciun, and Mia Jacobson also ran while Michael Auger conducted a write-in campaign. AnnaLisa LaFayette withdrew from the campaign.
= Campaign finance
=All of the candidates are participating in the democracy voucher program.
Brown's significant usage of billboards, which cost $1,000 per week, and mailers placed him above the $93,750 fundraising threshold for the democracy vouchers program. Brown told the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission that the advertisements were meant for his business and not his campaign. Costa and Saka also exceeded the fundraising limit, but the SEEC lifted their limit. Elliott Bay Neighbors Committee has spent $40,000 in support of Saka.
= Candidate forums
== Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 2
= Campaign
=Incumbent Tammy Morales announced her reelection campaign on February 1, 2023. Tanya Woo, an activist from the Chinatown–International District and a member of the Chinatown International District Community Watch, announced her campaign on February 16, 2023. Green Party steering committee co-chair Margaret Elisabeth also ran for the seat. Seattle Parks Sustainability and Environmental Engagement manager Chukundi Salisbury had been named as a potential candidate, but he did not run.
Isaiah Willoughby, a withdrawn candidate, did not gain traction or raise funds, but received attention due to his 2021 pleading guilty to charges of arson committed during the events of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
= Campaign finance
=All the candidates are participating in the democracy voucher program.
= Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 3
= Campaign
=Incumbent Kshama Sawant did not run for re-election.
Nine candidates ran for the seat:
Shobhit Agarwal, retailer
Ry Armstrong, actor
Andrew Ashiofu, Seattle LGBTQ+ Commission co-chair
Alex Cooley, cannabis business co-founder
Bobby Goodwin, public defender
Joy Hollingsworth, cannabis business co-founder
Efrain Hudnell, deputy prosecutor in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office
Alex Hudson, Executive Director, Transportation Choices Coalition
Asukaa Jaxx, perennial candidate (write-in)
= Campaign finance
=All of the candidates are participating in the democracy voucher program.
= Candidate forum
== Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 4
= Campaign
=Incumbent Alex Pedersen announced on January 4, 2023 that he would not run for re-election.
Entrepreneur Ron Davis announced his campaign for the seat on January 31, followed on March 10 by deputy director of the Department of Arts & Culture Maritza Rivera. George Artem and engineer Kenneth Wilson, runner-up in the 8th district in 2021, also ran for the seat. State representative Gerry Pollet was reportedly considering a campaign, but he did not run.
University of Washington graduate student Matthew Mitnick launched his campaign for the seat on November 15, 2022, but on March 30, 2023, ten former campaign members published a formal statement containing serious allegations against him. Mitnick withdrew from the race on April 14.
= Campaign finance
=All of the candidates are participating in the democracy voucher program. The SEEC lifted the fundraising limit for Davis.
= Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 5
= Campaign
=City Council president Debora Juarez declined to run for re-election. Ten candidates filed for the District 5 race:
Boegart Bibby
Lucca Howard
Nilu Jenks
Shane Macomber
Retired King County Superior Court judge Cathy Moore
Social equity consultant ChrisTiana ObeySumner
Tyesha Reed
Justin Simmons
Bobby Tucker
Rebecca Williamson, candidate for the 9th district in 2021
= Campaign finance
=All of the candidates are participating in the democracy voucher program.
= Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 6
= Campaign
=Incumbent Dan Strauss ran for re-election. He was being challenged by Fremont Chamber of Commerce executive Peter Hanning, Dale Kutzera, Jon Lisbin, Victoria Palmer and attorney Shea Wilson. Strauss was the only candidate in any race to receive more than 50% of the vote in the primary.
= Campaign finance
=All candidates save for Lisbin are participating in the democracy voucher program.
= Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=District 7
= Campaign
=Incumbent Andrew J. Lewis announced that he would run for reelection on January 15, 2023, the first incumbent councilor to do so. He is being challenged by Isabelle Kerner, who ran for this district in 2019, Queen Anne community councilmember Robert Kettle, Seattle Police Officer Aaron Marshall, businesswoman Olga Sagan and Wade Sowders.
= Campaign finance
=All the candidates save for Marshall are participating in the democracy voucher program.
= Endorsements
== Primary results
== General election results
=Notes
References
Works cited
August 1, 2023 Primary and Special Election King County Official Local Voters' Pamphlet. King County, Washington. 2023. Archived from the original on August 4, 2023.
2023 Seattle City Council primary election results (PDF). King County, Washington. 2023.
2023 Seattle City Council general election results (PDF). King County, Washington. 2023.
External links
Official campaign websites for 1st district candidates
Preston Anderson for City Council
Lucy Barefoot for City Council
Stephen Brown for City Council
Maren Costa for City Council
Jean Craciun for City Council
Rob Saka for City Council
Phillip Tavel for City Council
Official campaign websites for 2nd district candidates
Margaret Elisabeth for City Council
Tammy Morales for City Council
Tanya Woo for City Council
Official campaign websites for 3rd district candidates
Shobhit Agarwal for City Council
Ry Armstrong for City Council
Andrew Ashiofu for City Council
Alex Cooley for City Council
Robert Goodwin for City Council
Joy Hollingsworth for City Council
Efrain Hudnell for City Council
Alex Hudson for City Council
Official campaign websites for 4th district candidates
George Artem for City Council
Ron Davis for City Council
Maritza Rivera for City Council
Kenneth Wilson for City Council
Official campaign websites for 5th district candidates
Boegart Bibby for City Council
Lucca Howard for City Council
Nilu Jenks for City Council
Shane Macomber for City Council
Cathy Moore for City Council
ChrisTiana Obeysumner for City Council
Tyesha Reed for City Council
Justin Simmons for City Council
Official campaign websites for 6th district candidates
Pete Hanning for City Council
Dale Kutzera for City Council
Jon Lisbin for City Council
Victoria Palmer for City Council
Dan Strauss for City Council
Shea Wilson for City Council
Official campaign websites for 7th district candidates
Isabelle Kerner for City Council
Robert Kettle for City Council
Andrew J. Lewis for City Council
Aaron Marshall for City Council
Olga Sagan for City Council
Wade Sowders for City Council
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