Morales declares victory over Woo for Seattle City Council’s District 2 seat

Incumbent Tammy Morales has declared victory over challenger Tanya Woo in the November general election race for Seattle City Council District 2.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday, Morales thanked volunteers and voters for helping her to get where she is.

I am honored and humbled to be re-elected by the voters of District 2 to continue serving our communities. Over the course of this campaign, we knocked 20,000 doors, made more than 5,000 calls, and worked with 200 amazing volunteers—from the bottom of my heart, thank you. pic.twitter.com/m2IwAcZpiK

— Tammy J. Morales (@TammyMoralesSEA) November 14, 2023

Morales has earned 50.6% of the vote compared to Woo’s 49.1% — 12,925 votes for Morales against Woo’s 12,527 votes, according to King County’s latest ballot data. It appears Morales has won her second term on the Seattle City Council despite trailing for a majority of the race.

Election race list: The updated 2023 voting results in Washington

Morales first assumed office on Jan. 1, 2020, with her current term ending Dec. 31. Her political career in Seattle started with losing to eventual Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell for the District 2 seat in 2015 by just 344 votes. Four years later, she defeated Mark Solomon in 2019 by nearly 6,000 votes.

She was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Seattle council member Teresa Mosqueda, the National Women’s Political Caucus, The Stranger and Liz Berry, a state representative from the 36th district.

With four council members — Lisa Herbold, Kshama Sawant, Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez — deciding not to run for reelection this year or running for different office, Morales made it clear there’s more work she intends to accomplish if reelected. In a conversation with PubliCola, she cited unfinished business, a need for continuity in the legislative branch and a sense of optimism about the future among their reasons for running again despite working in what she described was a “working environment that has been chaotic, toxic and full of unexpected challenges.”

Morales outpaced her opponent, Woo, financially with $194,547 in campaign contributions. Woo earned $194,080 in contributions. The difference of just $467 is one of the closest races in terms of financial support.

Woo was a small business owner before deciding to run for city council.

“As a community advocate, I’ve fought against continued discrimination from the city towards the CID, recently named one of the most endangered neighborhoods in America. I learned that fighting for our voice when the city imposes their will without listening to our community, is a fight we can win. I want to bring that same passion to fight for all of South Seattle,” Woo said in her candidate statement.

More on Tammy Morales: Seattle city council member blasts colleague over crime in Chinatown

She was endorsed by The Seattle Times, Toshiko Hasegawa, commissioner of the Port of Seattle and Bob Hasegawa, a state senator from the 11th district.

Head here to see the updated 2023 voting results in Washington.