Community organizer Saunatina Sanchez and data-privacy tech worker Tariq Yusuf netted 4.4% and 4% of the vote at first count. It can take days or weeks to finish counting ballots with Washington’s vote-by-mail system, but if the trend continues, Rinck and Woo will likely face off in November’s special election. The winner will finish the final year of former Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s term. She left the Council in January after election to the King County Council.
The matchup mirrors the 2023 election in which a slate of conservative-leaning candidates faced off against more progressive-leaning choices in the race for Seattle’s seven district Council seats. Backed by big-business PAC money, five of the seven more conservative candidates won with promises of more police hiring and improved public safety, opposition to new taxes and support for businesses. They defeated candidates campaigning on promises of expanded social programs, police alternatives and new progressive taxes.
Woo, a Chinatown-International District activist whose family owns the Louisa Hotel apartment building, lost her 2023 bid for District 2 Council seat to incumbent Tammy Morales. In January, however, the Council appointed her to fill Mosqueda’s vacated seat.
Woo is running on a platform similar to last year’s, with a focus on public safety and public disorder. She wants to continue investing in police hiring, expand community policing, build more affordable housing and shelter space, invest in treatment options, support small businesses and reform zoning for the construction of housing beyond what’s proposed in the Comprehensive Plan update.
Rinck is an assistant director at the University of Washington working on state budget and policy issues. Prior to that she held engagement and policy-analyst positions at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the Sound Cities Association.
As the left-lane candidate, Rinck wants the city to pass new progressive taxes to pay for investments in affordable housing and community development, grassroots violence interruption programs and police alternatives, green infrastructure and small-business support. She also promises to introduce laws to increase renter protections and worker rights.
Woo and Rinck emerged as front-runners early in the 2024 election season, with significant fundraising and endorsements.
Woo has raised more than $226,000 and benefitted from a $60,000 spend on her behalf by the Washington Realtors Political Action Committee. She’s been endorsed by seven of her eight Council colleagues, former Gov. Gary Locke, Seattle Councilmembers Debora Juarez and Peter Steinbrueck and The Seattle Times.
Rinck has raised more than $191,000 and netted endorsements from prominent left-leaning local and state politicians as well as unions, progressive organizations and The Stranger. Her endorsers include current Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales and former Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis as well as state Sens. Noel Frame, Rebecca Saldaña and Yasmin Trudeau and state Reps. Darya Farivar, Gerry Pollet and Nicole Macri.
The next round of election results will be released on Wednesday around 4 p.m. Find more election results for races around the region and state on Cascade PBS’s Live Elections page.
