‘Deeply undemocratic’: King County Council candidate says opponent canceled their only scheduled debate

King County Council candidate Nick Duda said voters lost their only chance to see him debate incumbent Teresa Mosqueda after she canceled hours before the event.

Duda, who is challenging Mosqueda in District 8, joined “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio to discuss the canceled debate and his campaign’s focus on public safety, addiction, and accountability for homelessness spending.

“To see a debate dodged, to me, feels deeply undemocratic and an insult to the voters,” Duda said.

Debate canceled hours before start

KIRO host John Curley played a video Duda posted after the cancellation.

“It’s a bad day for democracy here in Seattle,” Duda said in the video. “Three and a half hours before our first and only scheduled debate, my opponent Teresa canceled, citing unexpected communication issues.”

In the video, Duda noted that the debate had been scheduled for almost two weeks and that some voters would cast ballots before the candidates could meet again.

“I certainly hope if it’s something beyond that that’s wrong with her or her family, all is OK,” he said.

On the show, Duda suggested Mosqueda may have wanted to avoid questions about recent news involving the King County Regional Homeless Authority, though he stopped short of saying so directly.

“I guess that’s a question some other media will have to ask her,” he said.

Duda also expressed frustration that KUOW has not interviewed him despite what he described as about 10 requests, while giving Mosqueda about 20 minutes to discuss Medicaid cuts.

“When you have one four-year race for local government where there is an incumbent being challenged, to not give some coverage, some airtime is a disservice to the voters,” he said.

Mosqueda’s 2020 defunding comments

Curley played a 2020 clip of Mosqueda, then a Seattle City Council member, discussing police funding.

“I am committed to defunding the police, to using most of that money, 50%, ideally, to invest back into communities that we fail,” Mosqueda said in the clip.

Curley said that would have been a natural debate question. Duda claimed no one has asked her about it during the campaign.

“To me, it’s the single biggest issue,” Duda said.

He argued that crime rose afterward, especially in marginalized neighborhoods, and that the Rainier Valley saw roughly double the increase of the rest of the city.

King County Council candidate calls himself a ‘Seattle moderate’

Duda, who moved to Seattle from Detroit about 14 years ago, described himself as a non-ideological liberal.

“I joke I moved out here 14 years ago as the most liberal of my friends. I guess I’m a Seattle moderate now,” he said.

He wants good schools, parks and transit, but views public safety, addiction and fiscal accountability as the region’s defining issues. He pointed to Chinatown-International District and Little Saigon, which are in his district, as areas hit hard by disorder.

“We talk about how equitable we want to be. That to me is like the embodiment of not a progressive ideal,” Duda said.

He recalled taking his wife on dates in Little Saigon early in their relationship.

“I just can’t imagine someone in my shoes now doing that,” he said.

King County homelessness agency spending

Duda, a former data analyst at Amazon and Target who later worked as a policy staffer for Seattle City Council member Maritza Rivera, argued that the region spends money without measuring results.

He noted that a 2022 state audit found the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) had almost no financial controls, and that it was released in 2023, when Mosqueda chaired Seattle’s budget committee.

“That’s kind of like the original sin of KCRHA,” Duda said.

According to Duda, more than $1 billion has gone through the authority while chronic homelessness has grown. With the city and county now taking back its contracts, he wants those contracts rebid with clear performance goals, as San Francisco has done.

Addiction and treatment

Duda argued the region treats addiction differently from other mental health conditions.

“We never say to someone who has dementia like, ‘Oh, we’ll just wait for Judy to pull herself up by her bootstraps and say she’s ready,’” he said. “But we do that with the fentanyl addiction.”

He cited his own analysis from his time at City Hall, which he said found an 80% higher fatal overdose rate in permanent supportive housing than on the street. He acknowledged that the link isn’t purely causal.

He pointed to San Francisco’s approach, including centers that hold people for 72 hours after an overdose and connect them with treatment, and its investment in sober and recovery shelter.

He also wants limits on diversion programs for repeat offenders, citing the summer machete attack on a bus in Chinatown by a man he said had 44 prior arrests.

Why he ran

Duda filed on the last day of the filing period after realizing Mosqueda would otherwise run unchallenged.

“My wife had heard me complain enough. She’s like, look, if you’re going to complain to me, you might as well step up and do it,” he said. “If nobody steps up, then we don’t get any change.”

He said voters he meets most often raise public safety, and many describe themselves as liberals who want change.

“I hear it from boomers who are retiring and who are like, ‘We voted for a lot of this, but it’s got to change,’” Duda said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jcurleyshow