King County Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci appear to be headed for a face-off in November in the race for King County Executive.
In early returns, Zahilay received 40.39% to Balducci’s 30.28%. In a distant third was Derek Chartrand with about 12.52%. The county reported that about 19% of registered voters in this race have been counted so far.
Both Zahilay and Balducci outraised the five other active candidates for the position vacated by longtime King County Executive Dow Constantine. (An eighth candidate, King County Auditor John Wilson, ended his campaign for executive after his arrest last month on investigation of stalking an ex-partner. Wilson appeared on the ballot because his campaign ended after the withdrawal deadline and received 9.33% of the vote in early returns.)
Balducci and Zahilay both cited their experience on the King County Council and Sound Transit and touted endorsements from prominent Democratic political leaders, labor groups and others.
Balducci is a former lawyer who worked for Northwest Women’s Law Center (now Legal Voice), a law firm that advocates for the rights of LGBTQ+ people and women. She also served as director of King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. Before serving on the King County Council, Balducci was on the Bellevue City Council for a decade, including stints as mayor, and is one of two vice-chairs of the Sound Transit board.
Balducci was elected to the King County Council in 2015, representing the district that includes Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, the Points Communities and Redmond. She has also served as Council Chair.
Zahilay was born to Ethiopian refugees in a settlement in Sudan and grew up in Seattle. He was a business attorney with Perkins Coie and worked in President Barack Obama’s administration. He returned to King County to start a mentorship nonprofit.
Zahilay was elected to the King County Council in 2020, after defeating longtime Councilmember Larry Gossett to represent the district that includes the eastern portion of Seattle south of the U District and Skyway. Zahilay ran to the left of Gossett, an influential Seattle civil rights leader, and is the Council’s current Chair.
King County Council results
Two positions on the King County Council were also on the primary ballot: District 5, which includes Des Moines, Kent, Normandy Park, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila; and District 7, which includes South King County, including parts of Kent, Auburn and Federal Way.
In District 5, Peter Kwon received 27.96% of the vote and Steffanie Fain received 24.64% in early returns. Kim-Khanh Van is in third place with 20.81%, trailing Fain by about 742 votes. They were the front-runners in a field of six vying for the seat vacated by state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove.
In District 7, incumbent Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer received 59.75% of the votes and challenger Maya Vengadasalam received 24.25%, leading the third candidate Pahaliyah Brown with 15.52%.
In November, voters will also see King County Districts 1 and 3 on the general election ballot. King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski is running unopposed for his District 1 seat. King County Councilmember Sarah Perry and challenger Rob Wotton were the only two candidates in the District 3 race and have automatically advanced to the general.
King County Executive and Councilmember seats are nonpartisan races.
