New districts and 45 candidates: Everything you need to know about Seattle’s massive council primary

Ranji Sinha
·2 min read
2

When voters in Seattle drop off their ballots in the coming days for the primary on August 1, they will be dealing with a whole new set of district lines for Seattle City Council races.

Follow KIRO 7′s August Primary coverage

In Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood — and in this election cycle, for the primary and the general election — the Magnolia community is now spilt into two new districts.

Old council district maps kept Magnolia as one single voting block combined with other neighborhoods stretching into parts of downtown.

New district maps, which were approved in November 2022, split Magnolia between two districts — 6 and 7 — which means some voters will have a new council member with this election cycle.

This year, seven of the city’s nine council seats will be up for election. And when the winners take office in January 2024, they will be representing these newly-formed districts.

The lines in other districts shifted as well but Magnolia is where those changes could have the biggest effect on the council moving forward, as voters in this neighborhood decide on representatives for two districts.

There are only three council members seeking re-election and two of them are vying for those now-split Magnolia votes, Districts 6 and 7. District 2 has its council member trying to keep their seat as well.

Only the district seats are up for grabs in this election cycle, but the cycle is probably most dramatic when it comes to who is not running for re-election.

Councilmember Kshama Sawant — probably one of the more recognizable names on the council — is not running for re-election for the first time in a decade.

District 4′s Alex Pedersen, District 5′s Debora Juarez, and District 1′s Lisa Herbold are all also not seeking re-election.

Here is the breakdown of the number of candidates for each district:

District 1 has eight candidates running for the seat.

District 2 is the least open race with only three candidates.

District 3 has eight candidates listed.

District 4 has four candidates.

District 5 has a whopping 10 candidates vying to make it through the primary.

District 6, with new lines, has six candidates.

District 7, also with new lines, also has six candidates.

Here are the candidates in no particular order:

District 1

  • Lucy Barefoot

  • Stephen Brown

  • Jean Iannelli Craciun

  • Rob Saka

  • Preston Anderson

  • Maren Costa

  • Mia Jacobson

  • Phil Tavel

District 2

  • Tammy Morales (incumbent)

  • Tanya Woo

  • Margaret Elisabeth

District 3

  • Alex Cooley

  • Bobby Goodwin

  • Ry Armstrong

  • Shobhit Agarwal

  • Joy Hollingsworth

  • Andrew Ashiofu

  • Alex Hudson

  • Efrain Hudnell

District 4

  • Ron Davis

  • Ken Wilson

  • Maritza Rivera

  • George Artem

District 5

  • Shane Macomber

  • ChrisTiana ObeySumner

  • Justin Simmons

  • Rebecca Williamson

  • Nilu Jenks

  • Boegart Bibby

  • Cathy Moore

  • Lucca Murdoch Howard

  • Bobby Tucker

  • Tye Reed

District 6

  • Dan Strauss (incumbent)

  • Shea Wilson

  • Pete Hanning

  • Victoria Palmer

  • Dale Kutzera

  • Jon Lisbin

District 7

  • Andrew Lewis (incumbent)

  • Aaron Marshall

  • Olga Sagan

  • Wade Sowders

  • Bob Kettle

  • Isabelle Kerner