2021 Seattle City Council election
← 2019 November 2, 2021
Officially nonpartisan		 2021 (recall) →
2 of the 9 seats on the Seattle City Council
5 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Democratic Socialist Alternative
Seats before 8 1
Seats won 8 1
Seat change Steady Steady
Composition of the Seattle City Council by political party[a]
President of the City Council before election

Lorena González
Nonpartisan

Elected President of the City Council

Debora Juarez
Nonpartisan

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The 2021 Seattle City Council election were held on November 2, 2021. Two seats of the nine-member Seattle City Council were up for election.

Background

Four incumbent members of the Seattle City Council did not seek reelection in the 2019 election while the three other incumbents won reelection.[1][2][3][4][5] Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2021 election.[6]

The 2021 election cycle was the 3rd use of Seattle's Democracy Vouchers Program,[7] which other cities and states have looked to replicate.[8]

District 8

Campaign

Teresa Mosqueda, who had served on the city council since her election in 2015, announced on May 5, 2021, that she would seek reelection instead of running in the mayoral election.[9] Kate Martin, who was also running for mayor, announced her campaign for city council on March 23.[10] Michael McQuaid ran in the election, but withdrew after his criminal record involving multiple assaults was reported on.[11][12]

Campaign finance

Bobby Lindsey, Jordan Elizabeth Fisher, Martin, Paul Glumaz, and Mosqueda are participating in the democracy voucher program.[13]

Candidate Campaign committee
Raised Spent COH L&D
Brian Fahey[14] $1,914.23 $1,914.23 $0.00 $0.00
Jordan Elizabeth Fisher[15] $1,751.38 $0.00 $1,751.38 $0.00
Paul Glumaz[16] $6,861.86 $2,797.73 $4,064.13 $0.00
Kate Martin[17] $5,846.25 $3,576.49 $2,269.76 $0.00
Teresa Mosqueda[18] $163,777.20 $47,922.85 $115,854.35 $3,090.80

Endorsements

Teresa Mosqueda
Federal officials
Statewide officials
Local officials

Primary election

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Brian
Fahey 		Jordan
Elizabeth
Fisher 		George
Freeman 		Paul
Glumaz 		Jesse
James 		Kate
Martin 		Bobby
Lindsey
Miller 		Teresa
Mosqueda 		Alex
Tsimerman 		Alexander
White 		Kenneth
Wilson 		Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] July 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.3% 0% 1% 0% 3% 1% 6% 3% 26% 1% 1% 1% 55%

Results

Primary election[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Teresa Mosqueda (incumbent) 113,052 59.4
Nonpartisan Kenneth Wilson 30,862 16.2
Nonpartisan Kate Martin 21,997 11.6
Nonpartisan Paul Glumaz 10,228 5.4
Nonpartisan Alexander White 2,474 1.3
Nonpartisan Bobby Miller 2,438 1.3
Nonpartisan Jesse James 2,051 1.1
Nonpartisan Jordan Elizabeth Fisher 1,810 1.0
Nonpartisan George Freeman 1,575 0.8
Nonpartisan Alex Tsimerman 961 0.5
Nonpartisan Brian Fahey 887 0.8
Write-in 2,075 1.1
Total votes 190,410 100.0

General election

Polling

Graphical summary
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Teresa
Mosqueda 		Kenneth
Wilson 		Other Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] October 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.1% 39% 31% 3%[c] 26%
Elway Research September 7–9, 2021 400 (LV) ± 5.0% 33% 17% 11% 33%

Results

General election[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Teresa Mosqueda (incumbent) 149,589 59.40
Nonpartisan Kenneth Wilson 101,168 40.17
Write-in 1,074 0.43
Total votes 251,831 100.00

District 9

Campaign

Lorena González, who was first elected in the 2015 election and was selected to serve as president of the city council in 2020, announced on February 3, 2021, that she would run in the mayoral election.[22] Nikkita Oliver, who had run in the 2017 mayoral election, announced that they would run for city council on March 10.[23] Sara Nelson, who had run in the 8th district in 2017, ran in the election.[24] Brianna Thomas, who worked as González's chief of staff, ran in the election.[25]

Campaign finance

Brianna K. Thomas, Corey Eichner, Oliver, and Xtian Gunter are participating in the democracy voucher program.[13]

Candidate Campaign committee
Raised Spent COH L&D
Corey Eichner[26] $9,680.00 $4,358.33 $5,321.67 $0.00
Claire Grant[27] $901.32 $427.77 $473.55 $0.00
Lindsay McHaffie[28] $0.00 $1,296.86 -$1,296.86 $0.00
Sara Nelson[29] $133,853.98 $39,223.04 $94,630.94 $5,500.00
Nikkita Oliver[30] $183,429.01 $55,176.40 $128,252.61 $0.00
Brianna Thomas[31] $86,278.01 $39,301.57 $46,976.44 $6,372.00

Endorsements

Nelson endorsements
Local officials
Media
Individuals
Oliver endorsements
State officials
Local officials
Organizations
Media
Thomas endorsements
State officials
Local officials

Primary election

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Corey
Eichner 		Xtian
Gunther 		Lindsay
McHaffie 		Sara
Nelson 		Nikkita
Oliver 		Brianna
Thomas 		Rebecca
Williamson 		Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] July 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.3% 3% 1% 0% 11% 26% 6% 0% 50%

Results

Primary election[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Nikkita Oliver 79,799 40.2
Nonpartisan Sara Nelson 78,388 39.5
Nonpartisan Brianna Thomas 26,651 13.4
Nonpartisan Corey Eichner 10,228 3.5
Nonpartisan Lindsay McHaffie 3,048 1.5
Nonpartisan Rebecca Williamson 1,646 0.8
Nonpartisan Xtian Gunther 1,409 0.7
Write-in 637 0.3
Total votes 198,608 100.0

General election

Polling

Graphical summary
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[b] 		Margin
of error 		Sara
Nelson 		Nikkita
Oliver 		Other Undecided
Change Research (D)[A] October 12–15, 2021 617 (LV) ± 4.1% 41% 37% 2%[d] 21%
Elway Research September 7–9, 2021 400 (LV) ± 5.0% 31% 26% 9% 34%

Results

General election[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Sara Nelson 139,336 53.84
Nonpartisan Nikkita Oliver 119,025 45.99
Write-in 437 0.17
Total votes 258,798 100.00

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Officially nonpartisan
  2. ^ a b c d Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  3. ^ "Would not vote" with 3%
  4. ^ "Would not vote" with 2%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ a b c d This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute

References

  1. ^ "Bruce Harrell third incumbent who won't seek re-election to Seattle City Council". The Seattle Times. January 8, 2019. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "Rob Johnson won't run for re-election in Seattle's big 2019 City Council elections". The Seattle Times. November 8, 2018. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Mike O'Brien is fourth Seattle City Council incumbent who won't run for re-election". The Seattle Times. February 13, 2019. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sally Bagshaw won't run again for Seattle City Council in 2019". The Seattle Times. November 27, 2018. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "2019 primary results" (PDF). King County, Washington. November 5, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan won't run for reelection". The Seattle Times. December 7, 2020. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Democracy Voucher Program - DemocracyVoucher". seattle.gov. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "Democracy Policy Network".
  9. ^ "Teresa Mosqueda will run for reelection to Seattle City Council, nixing mayoral speculation". The Seattle Times. May 4, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "In a first, Kate Martin launches campaigns for both Seattle mayor and council". American City Business Journals. March 25, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Seattle City Council candidate was charged with assault, harassment after 2015 confrontation". The Seattle Times. February 26, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "Seattle council candidate withdraws after criminal assault exposed". KUOW-FM. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Participating Candidates". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  14. ^ "Brian Fahey campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "Jordan Elizabeth Fisher campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  16. ^ "Paul Glumaz campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "Kate Martin campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Teresa Mosqueda campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "Despite larger field, Teresa Mosqueda still faces little opposition in Seattle council reelection bid". MyNorthwest. June 14, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "City elections in Seattle, Washington (2021)".
  21. ^ a b "Election Results – November 02, 2021" (PDF). King County Elections. November 2, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  22. ^ "Seattle City Council President M. Lorena González is running for mayor". The Seattle Times. February 3, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  23. ^ "Nikkita Oliver announces run for Seattle City Council, lays out vision for big changes". The Seattle Times. March 10, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  24. ^ "Sara Nelson's Sobriety Changed the Way She Thinks About Homelessness, But It Hasn't Changed Her Policy Prescriptions". The Stranger. April 12, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  25. ^ "Two new candidates, Brianna Thomas and Mike McQuaid, seek seats on Seattle Council". The Seattle Times. February 25, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  26. ^ "Corey Eichner campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "Claire Grant campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  28. ^ "Lindsay McHaffie campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  29. ^ "Sara Nelson campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  30. ^ "Nikkita Oliver campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  31. ^ "Brianna Thomas campaign finance". Seattle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g "Funds, high-profile endorsements continue flowing into Seattle council race". MyNorthwest. June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  33. ^ Seattle Times Editorial Board, "The Times recommends: Sara Nelson for Seattle City Council, at-large Position 9," Seattle Times, July 8, 2021. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/the-times-recommends-sara-nelson-for-seattle-city-council-position-9/.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g "Trio of candidates maintain massive fundraising lead in race for Seattle council seat". MyNorthwest. June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  35. ^ "Our 2021 Endorsements". Seattle Democratic Socialists of America. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  36. ^ Stranger Election Control Board, "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August 3, 2021 Primary Election," The Stranger, July 14, 2021, https://www.thestranger.com/news/2021/07/14/59065522/the-strangers-endorsements-for-the-august-3-2021-primary-election.
  37. ^ Elections Committee, "The Urbanist's 2021 Primary Endorsements," The Urbanist, June 28, 2021, https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/06/28/the-urbanists-2021-primary-endorsements/.
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