The special election will determine who will fill the Council’s Citywide Position 8 seat for the remainder of former Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s term, ending Dec. 31, 2025.
Ballot counting can take days and even weeks under Washington’s vote-by-mail system and results often change before they are finalized, but Rinck and her supporters were ready to declare victory Tuesday night.
“We didn’t just win an election. We turned a page and we wrote a new chapter, one that says our city belongs to everyone,” said Rinck at her election night party at St. Johns bar on Capitol Hill. “Every conversation we’ve had, every story that you’ve shared, has reminded me that we have something powerful, a shared faith of what this city can do.”
Rinck was an assistant director at the University of Washington working on state budget and policy issues until she stepped down after winning the primary to focus on the campaign. Prior to that she held director and policy-analyst positions at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the Sound Cities Association.
Woo helped found the Chinatown-International District Community Watch during the pandemic to conduct safety patrols and do outreach to people experiencing homelessness. In 2022, she helped lead successful protests in Chinatown against the proposed expansion of a large homeless shelter. Woo and her family also own the historic Louisa Hotel, which was redeveloped into middle-income apartments after a 2013 fire.
Woo was appointed by the Seattle City Council in January to temporarily fill Mosqueda’s seat after the former Councilmember was elected to the King County Council. In 2023 Woo unsuccessfully ran against Councilmember Tammy Morales for South Seattle’s District 2 position.
People celebrate at Seattle City Council candidate Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s election night party at Saint John’s Eatery and Bar on Capitol Hill. (Chloe Collyer for Cascade PBS)
The 2024 Council election’s political divisions fell along familiar lines for Seattle, pitting a progressive Democrat against a more centrist Democrat. Rinck occupied the election’s left lane, campaigning for new progressive taxes to fund social services and affordable housing, investments in police alternatives, community-led development and more.
Woo aligns closely with the new City Council majority that leans more conservative than their predecessors. Woo opposes new taxes and wants to continue investing in the city police budget to bolster officer hiring and retention. She also wants to increase incentives for private investment in affordable housing and supports increasing spending on street outreach and escalation work like the Third Avenue Project happening Downtown.
Whoever wins this November will take office after election results are certified later this month. The Position 8 Councilmember will have to run again for reelection next year if they want to stay in office.
Rinck’s party, which was held along with Shaun Scott, a 43rd Legislative District candidate, and State Rep. Darya Farivar, was packed with supporters, members of Seattle’s labor movement and other progressive activists.
Councilmember Morales, the Council’s most left-leaning member, endorsed Rinck and was at Tuesday’s party. Asked what a Rinck victory would mean, Morales said, “It will mean there’s another progressive voice, and a progressive voice that won citywide.”
Morales continued, “Alexis will bring the same values I bring as the District 2 representative around racial equity and supporting our most vulnerable, not just the wealthy and most connected.”
Woo held a private party for family, friends and campaign volunteers Tuesday night. Members of the public and media were not invited to attend.
In addition to the City Council race, Seattle voters were asked to approve or reject a $1.55 billion transportation levy, which was passing 67% to 33% on Tuesday night.
If approved, the property tax will be extended for eight years and help pay for the Seattle Department of Transportation’s work on street repaving, bridge repair, bike and bus lanes, signal modernization and sidewalk construction.
