Seattle's City Council elections this year will be interesting. In previous elections, the council's 9 members were elected citywide with 4 year terms. In 2013 however, voters approved a measure to change this system into 7 individual districts, plus 2 seats that remain citywide. The current make-up of the City Council is 8 Democrats, 1 Socialist. As with most Seattle elections, most of the council elections will be between candidates representing different factions of progressives.
The main issues at play in Seattle generally revolve around keeping the city affordable for the average working man, something that's become difficult as tech companies attract rich software workers to the city, driving up rent costs even as more and more housing buildings crop up.
I have prepared a brief break-down of all 9 races, districts and candidates:
District 1Southwest/West Seattle (Delridge, South Park, Highland Park)
Shannon Braddock - Chief of Staff to county councilor Joe McDermott, running on transportation issues.
Pavel Goberman - Crazy person, ran against Jeff Merkely in 2014, has a
great websiteAmanda Kay Helmick - Community activist
Lisa Herbold - Licata staffer, focusing on housing issues
Chas Redmond - Some dude
Arturo Robles - Some dude
Jody Rushmer - Some dudette
Phillip Tavel - Attorney, primarily for children
Brianna Thomas - Activist, heavily involved in SeaTac minimum wage fight.
Karl Wirsing - Some dude
Longtime councilmember Nick Licata is not running for re-election, causing a wide array of candidates to run for this seat some of whom have already dropped out. Despite the long list of names, the only two that really are worth watching are Braddock and Herbold.
District 2Southeast Seattle (Beacon Hill, Georgetown, Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach)
Josh Farris - Activist, involved with Occupy Seattle and anti-foreclosure movements.
Bruce Harrell - Incumbent
Tammy Morales - Community activist, decently influential.
District 2 consists of the blue-collar Southwest Seattle, and is the only district that is not majority white. This is mainly a battle between Morales and Harrell. Morales has criticized Harrell for flip-flopping on issues (often voting the opposite of what he publicly said he would) and has also gone hard after Harrell for being to cushy with the Seattle Police Department. Harrell, who also chairs the city's Public Safety Committee, has taken fire as many excessive force cases being dismissed outright, with one officer who was investigated 18 times in a three-year period being allowed to retain his job. It's an issue that will likely have a lot of pull in this part of town, and Harrell has stepped up his criticisms of SPD as of late. Farris is a long-shot candidate, but has pushed the race to the left in certain areas like rent-control.
District 3Capitol Hill + Central District
Pamela Banks - Urban League president, backed by Mayor Murray, Bruce Harrell, & Tim Burgess.
Morgan Beach - Women's rights activist
Lee Carter - Community activist
Rod Hearne - LGBT rights activist
Kshama Sawant - Incumbent. You know her already.
Capitol Hill is considered the "gay" part of Seattle, and it's politics are about as liberal as you find in America. This election is essentially a referendum on Sawant, the lone Socialist on the council who everyone either adores or despises. Sawant's supporters are vocal, and turn up at every council meeting to make themselves heard. Her opponents are forced to define themselves against Sawant, with their main attacks being that she is divisive, and too focused on socialist revolution to actually do her job. With Mayor Ed Murray making his dislike of Sawant known, this has also turned the election into a establishment vs. activist battle. Sawant recently picked up the endorsement of Mike McGinn, who Murray defeated in 2013.
District 4Northeast Seattle (University District, Ravenna, Eastlake, most of Wallingford)
Jean Godden - Incumbent
Rob Johnson - Urban planner, transportation activist
Michael Maddux - Paralegal, park activist
Abel Pacheco - Some dude
Tony Provine - Neighborhood activist
An odd district; District 4 is both urban and suburban, the highest level of education, but the 2nd poorest district overall. Voters here tend to be liberal, but risk averse. Much of the population are renters and University of Washington students, both of whom are have very low turnout in local elections. Jean Godden is the incumbent here, and is probably the most vulnerable of all the council members. Although a strong liberal by most measures, Godden has gained a reputation as one of the more conservative members of the council as the council has been pushed left recently by members like Sawant and Mike O'Brien. Godden is a close ally of Mayor Murray as well, to the point that some have criticized her for being a rubber stamp who has come to parrot Murray's plans and ideas. Godden has a strong feminist streak, something she's used to make liberal activists happy in the past. It might not save her this time though as a recent straw poll had Godden in dead last; losing to Maddux and the well-funded Rob Johnson. Godden has a strong money advantage, and the heavy support of the Mayor, but we'll see if that's enough.
District 5North Seattle (Northgate + Lake City)
Sandy Brown - Former pastor, activist for the homeless
Debadutta Dash - Some dude
Mercedes Elizalde - Low-Income Housing Institute member
Debora Juarez - Blackfeet Tribe member, activist
Kris Lethin - Realtor
Hugh Russell - Some dude
David Toledo - Businessman, activist
Halei Watkins - Planned Parenthood organizer
None of the current Council members are running here, leaving it wide open. No major issues here, and as such this is probably going to be a boring race. Sandy Brown is probably the frontrunner, with Elizalde, Watkins, and Juarez also in the mix.
District 6Green Lake to Golden Gardens, includes Ballard, Fremont.
Jon Lisbin - Some dude
Mike O’Brien - Incumbent
Stan Shaufler - Some dude
Catherine Weatbrook - Neighborhood activist
O'Brien is a solid progressive, who gives his district little reason to complain. He's fought hard for environmental issues and public campaign financing, and is currently pushing a proposal to charge developers linkage fees in order to help pay for affordable housing. Weatbrook is his only competition, but O'Brien should cruise to re-election fairly easily.
District 7Downtown through Discovery Park (Queen Anne, Magnolia, South Lake Union)
Sally Bagshaw - Incumbent
Gus Hartmann - Google engineer
Deborah Zech-Artis - Some dudette
The urban core of Seattle. Bagshaw has massively outraised her only opponent in Hartmann, and will likely win re-election easily.
District 8Citywide Position
Tim Burgess - Incumbent, Council President
Jon Grant - Former Tenants Union executive director
John Persak - Longshoreman, some dude but has a decent amount of $$$.
John Roderick - Musician, played with Death Cab for Cutie!
A fun race. Burgess, the Council President, has led the fight for universal Pre-K but is otherwise the council's most conservative member by far. His main opponent is Jon Grant, a far-left firebrand who has heavily taken aim at Burgess. The list of complaints about Burgess include a controversial anti-panhandling measure, opposing tent encampments for homeless, the blocking of various campaign finance reform measures, and Burgess' support for the downtown tunnel project. Roderick is also a contender, and has raised vast sums of money to rival Burgess.
District 9Citywide Position
Alon Bassok - Urban planner
Bill Bradburd - Community activist, opponent of micro-housing
Lorena González - Former civil rights attorney, legal counsel to the mayor
Omari Tahir-Garrett - Africatown activist, Sawant ally, focused on gentrification
Thomas Tobin - Some dude
Alex Tsimerman - Local nutcase
Another vacant race, this race will likely come down to a battle between Gonzalez and Bradburd. Gonzalez is backed by Mayor Ed Murray, and has also gained praise as a immigration activist and for her representation of a Latino man who was
beaten and threatened by Seattle Police in 2010.