Position 8 is one of two at-large seats on the Seattle City Council, representing the entire city rather than a single district. Position 8 was last held by Teresa Mosqueda, elected to the King County Council in 2023 with two years remaining in her term. In January, the City Council appointed Tanya Woo to fill the seat in 2024. The winner of this November’s special election will hold the seat through the end of 2025 when Mosqueda’s term would have ended.
Related reading:
5 takeaways from the Seattle City Council Position 8 debate (Cascade PBS)
Three progressives take on Tanya Woo in Seattle City Council race (Cascade PBS)
How Seattle council candidates differ on crime, taxes, homelessness (Cascade PBS)
Position 8 is one of two at-large seats on the Seattle City Council, representing the entire city rather than a single district. Position 8 was last held by Teresa Mosqueda, elected to the King County Council in 2023 with two years remaining in her term. In January, the City Council appointed Tanya Woo to fill the seat in 2024. The winner of this November’s special election will hold the seat through the end of 2025 when Mosqueda’s term would have ended.
Related reading:
5 takeaways from the Seattle City Council Position 8 debate (Cascade PBS)
Three progressives take on Tanya Woo in Seattle City Council race (Cascade PBS)
How Seattle council candidates differ on crime, taxes, homelessness (Cascade PBS)
Alexis Mercedes 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 for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the Sound Cities Association.
She is running on a promise to seek progressive revenue rather than spending cuts to address the city’s looming budget shortfall; expand the affordable-housing supply and help keep low-income renters from falling into homelessness; and tackle the root causes of violence and crime.
Rinck has been endorsed by State Sens. Rebecca Saldaña, Noel Frame and Yasmin Trudeau; State Reps. Julia Reed, Nicole Macri and Sharlett Mena; and Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales.
Alexis Mercedes Rinck PDC link
Alexis Mercedes Rinck campaign website
Alexis Mercedes Rinck State Voter Guide
Related reading:
New progressive PAC backs Alexis Rinck’s Seattle council campaign (Cascade PBS)
What Alexis Rinck’s Council primary win says about Seattle politics (Cascade PBS)
What Seattle City Councilmember do you identify most with and why? (Other than yourself if that applies.)
I truly respect former Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who held this citywide position prior to her 2023 election to King County Council. Like Teresa, I am committed to fundamental worker rights and living wages, expanding affordable housing and Green New Deal policies, and investing in the services and support needed by people in crisis.
Teresa knows when to work toward pragmatic solutions without compromising core values. This is another trait I hope to bring to the Council as we address critical public safety and housing priorities.
I have rallied much of the same diverse coalition that helped her win: unanimous and sole endorsements from Seattle Democratic Party organizations, MLK Labor, Planned Parenthood and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility– to name a few.
We are also both proud Latinas!
What are the top two pieces of legislation you would prioritize bringing forward as City Councilmember?
While there are several policies I look forward to working on if elected, two that I think require immediate action include:
-
Streamlining permitting to accelerate construction of needed affordable housing. It shouldn’t take one year or longer for permits to be issued to anyone seeking to add affordability and additional housing in our neighborhoods. From backyard ADUs to transit friendly high rises, and everything in between, we need the City to step up and help reduce costs, delay, and frustration when it comes to building needed homes.
-
We must help struggling small businesses address the high costs of doing business in our city without rolling back wages, hours, and workplace protections. I want to work on legislation that provides utility and rental cost relief, assistance with safety concerns, and leverages state and federal resources to help small businesses convert to cleaner and less expensive heating, cooling, and cooking solutions.
Alexis Mercedes Rinck
Alexis Mercedes 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 for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the Sound Cities Association.
She is running on a promise to seek progressive revenue rather than spending cuts to address the city’s looming budget shortfall; expand the affordable-housing supply and help keep low-income renters from falling into homelessness; and tackle the root causes of violence and crime.
Rinck has been endorsed by State Sens. Rebecca Saldaña, Noel Frame and Yasmin Trudeau; State Reps. Julia Reed, Nicole Macri and Sharlett Mena; and Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales.
Alexis Mercedes Rinck PDC link
Alexis Mercedes Rinck campaign website
Alexis Mercedes Rinck State Voter Guide
Related reading:
New progressive PAC backs Alexis Rinck’s Seattle council campaign (Cascade PBS)
What Alexis Rinck’s Council primary win says about Seattle politics (Cascade PBS)
What Seattle City Councilmember do you identify most with and why? (Other than yourself if that applies.)
I truly respect former Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who held this citywide position prior to her 2023 election to King County Council. Like Teresa, I am committed to fundamental worker rights and living wages, expanding affordable housing and Green New Deal policies, and investing in the services and support needed by people in crisis.
Teresa knows when to work toward pragmatic solutions without compromising core values. This is another trait I hope to bring to the Council as we address critical public safety and housing priorities.
I have rallied much of the same diverse coalition that helped her win: unanimous and sole endorsements from Seattle Democratic Party organizations, MLK Labor, Planned Parenthood and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility– to name a few.
We are also both proud Latinas!
What are the top two pieces of legislation you would prioritize bringing forward as City Councilmember?
While there are several policies I look forward to working on if elected, two that I think require immediate action include:
-
Streamlining permitting to accelerate construction of needed affordable housing. It shouldn’t take one year or longer for permits to be issued to anyone seeking to add affordability and additional housing in our neighborhoods. From backyard ADUs to transit friendly high rises, and everything in between, we need the City to step up and help reduce costs, delay, and frustration when it comes to building needed homes.
-
We must help struggling small businesses address the high costs of doing business in our city without rolling back wages, hours, and workplace protections. I want to work on legislation that provides utility and rental cost relief, assistance with safety concerns, and leverages state and federal resources to help small businesses convert to cleaner and less expensive heating, cooling, and cooking solutions.
Councilmember Tanya Woo currently holds the Position 8 seat on the Seattle City Council, to which she was appointed in January 2024. In 2023 she ran for the Council’s District 2 but lost to incumbent Councilmember Tammy Morales.
Woo is a Chinatown-International District activist and business owner. During the pandemic, she co-founded the CID Community Watch, which conducts safety patrols and does outreach to homelessness encampments. Her family founded the historic Louisa Hotel, which was redeveloped into low- and middle-income affordable housing after a 2013 fire. She has prioritized public safety, police hiring and fiscal conservatism.
Tanya Woo PDC link
Tanya Woo campaign website
Tanya Woo State Voter Guide
Related reading:
Seattle City Council appoints Tanya Woo to fill District 8 seat (Cascade PBS)
Tanya Woo
Councilmember Tanya Woo currently holds the Position 8 seat on the Seattle City Council, to which she was appointed in January 2024. In 2023 she ran for the Council’s District 2 but lost to incumbent Councilmember Tammy Morales.
Woo is a Chinatown-International District activist and business owner. During the pandemic, she co-founded the CID Community Watch, which conducts safety patrols and does outreach to homelessness encampments. Her family founded the historic Louisa Hotel, which was redeveloped into low- and middle-income affordable housing after a 2013 fire. She has prioritized public safety, police hiring and fiscal conservatism.
Tanya Woo PDC link
Tanya Woo campaign website
Tanya Woo State Voter Guide
Related reading:
Seattle City Council appoints Tanya Woo to fill District 8 seat (Cascade PBS)