What to know ahead of the Seattle City Council primary on Tuesday

Eyes are on Seattle as the City Council primary election arrives and 14 candidates are selected to run in November and possibly alter the city’s political direction.

The primary election is on Tuesday, when voters will narrow 45 candidates down to 14. Seven of the nine council seats are on the ballot, with four open seats expected to be filled by new leaders who could move the city toward a more progressive agenda.

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Tuesday’s election comes after polling showed most voters disapproved of the way the current City Council is handling issues such as public safety and downtown recovery while Seattle shows spikes in homicides and homelessness.

Here’s what to know about the Seattle City Council primary election.

Details of the primary

Seven seats, Districts 1 through 7, are on Tuesday’s primary ballot. Three of the seven races feature incumbents. The top two candidates for each seat will head to the general election on Nov. 7, 2023. Those elected will assume office on Jan. 1, 2024, and serve a four-year term.

Districts 1, 3, 4, and 5 are the four open seats that are being vacated by retiring incumbents. Districts 1, 3, and 5 have eight candidates vying to advance to the top two.

Candidates range from community advocates, social equity consultants, and civil rights activists to attorneys, former judges, business owners, and former mayoral candidates.

In District 3, Joy Hollingsworth, Alex Hudson, and Alex Cooley have each raised around $90,000 — significantly more than the other five candidates in that district.

Candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka have notable fundraising advantages in their District 1 race, and community advocate Nilu Jenks has raised almost twice as much as the nearest competitor in District 5’s race.

Political consultant Ben Anderstone told Axios that the results of the primary on election night will be misleading, as Seattle City Council races tend to get a surge of left-leaning votes with mail-in ballots — a process that goes for days.

What topics are voters taking to the ballot boxes?

Voters are seeking a balance between public safety concerns and reforming the criminal justice system. Over the past four years, Seattle has been hit with a barren downtown due to COVID-19, rising homicide rates, a growing fentanyl epidemic, and a battle over policing following the Black Lives Matter movement that peaked in 2020.

An April survey from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce found that public safety was the second-biggest issue for residents after homelessness. A Seattle Times poll from June found 85% of respondents feel safe in their neighborhoods, but concerns about drug use and gun violence remain at the top of their minds.

Homicides increased by 7% in the first half of 2023, according to a recent report from the Council on Criminal Justice. Seattle was one of 10 cities to report an increase, with the city’s percentage hitting larger than New York.

Several council members running for reelection have acknowledged that concern for the city stems from frustrated voters who believe that the current council is not handling public safety properly — particularly after the council had a near-vote to defund the Seattle Police Department by 50% after the summer 2020 protests.

Therefore, primary candidates, such as those in District 1, are divided on whether to increase or decrease the police department’s budget. Some said “maybe” or “no” when asked if they should reduce the police department’s budget, while some said “yes” to increasing it.

City Council incumbents Tammy Morales and Andrew Lewis, who are running to keep their seats in Districts 2 and 7, respectively, are in favor of training alternative responders to address emergency calls involving mental health or substance abuse crises.

What the primary election could mean for the city

The primary will open up 14 candidates, two per district, to outside donors who hope to shape the outcome of the general election. Tuesday’s election will also signal which races are competitive and which ones aren’t.

The election could also affect the city’s political stance. Most candidates are left-leaning but vary widely across the spectrum. The primary could result in matchups between centrist Democrats and progressive or socialist candidates, which could move Seattle even further to the left.

A few candidates, including Victoria Palmer (who is running for the District 6 seat), are running on a more conservative agenda — Palmer opposed COVID-19 restrictions and said she is against defunding the police.

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In District 7, Olga Sagan is running a small business protection campaign after a series of crimes in her area led to a temporary closure of her bakery.

While the city is unlikely to head in a conservative direction this election cycle, how progressive the city’s agenda becomes depends on who the voters select as primary and general election candidates.