Foster, Mercedes Rinck, Lin take early leads in critical Seattle city council races

Two newcomers — Dionne Foster and Eddie Lin — took early leads for seats on the Seattle City Council while Alexis Mercedes Rinck eyes a reelection bid for Position 8.

City Council Position 9

Foster led incumbent Sara Nelson 62.7% (165,267 votes) to 36.9% (97,289 votes), according to King County voting data, for position 9, a city-wide seat, among the city council.

“Well, given the primary returns, I’m not all that surprised,” Nelson told KIRO Newsradio after results dropped. “However, we put 110% into the campaign — doorbell, 11,000 people, 20,000 phone calls, etc. So we worked really hard since the primary. So we were hoping it would be better, but I was working with the deficit going in.”

Acting as the current city council president, Nelson has served four years on the council since she was first elected in 2021. However, Nelson performed poorly in the August primary, as challenger Dionne Foster earned 58.4% of the vote (110,636 votes), compared to Nelson’s 35.3% (66,909).

If Nelson doesn’t win, she still wants to find a way to aid her community.

“I do not have a plan. Frankly, I’m in the middle of budget, and I really haven’t thought about is what my next career move. Mostly, I’ve always just wanted to help fix Seattle,” she said. “So I am not anticipating going for some higher office anywhere. I am just going to finish my job and then take a look at what’s available and where I really want to take my life next. But I’m sure that it will always focus on policy and trying to have a positive impact on my city.”

Foster’s experience is eclectic, including time working as a senior program officer for the nonprofit Seattle Foundation and also as a policy advisor for the City of Seattle from 2016 to 2018.

Foster has voiced that making the city more affordable is one of her biggest goals as a council member. On the campaign trail, she has also advocated for increasing shelter capacity, expanding treatment services, and opening up micro-commercial spaces for smaller businesses.

She has also stated that she supports the business and occupation tax changes on this year’s ballot.

At the start of 2023, according to the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI), Nelson was the only member of the Seattle City Council who had a positive job performance rating.

A significant portion of Nelson’s campaign has been based on the city’s uptick in public safety. She has cited her support in creating police hiring bonuses to kickstart re-staffing a once-depleted Seattle Police Department.

As the co-owner of Fremont Brewery, Neson has been a long supporter of small, local businesses, citing the creation of the “storefront repair fund,” which helps businesses deal with damages suffered from crime.

In a poll sponsored by NPI on Oct. 23, 44% of respondents claimed they will be voting for Foster, while 29% said they would be voting for Nelson.

City Council Position 8

Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the incumbent, holds a strong lead over challenger Rachael Savage to retain her seat, the city-wide Position 8, on the city council.

Mercedes Rinck earned 207,161 votes (81.3%) while Savage received 46,042 votes (18.0%). This is mostly aligned with August’s primary results, when Mercedes Rinck snagged 78.3% of the vote (142,537 votes).

Mercedes Rinck attended Syracuse University, where she fundraised for Planned Parenthood and led efforts in LGBTQ+ justice, as stated on her website. She then graduated with degrees in political science and sociology and moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and start a career in public policy.

Rinck served at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, where she led the development of its five-year regional plan to address homelessness.

She defeated Tanya Woo for the Position 8 seat last year (58.2% to 41.4%) after Teresa Mosqueda was elected to the King County Council.

Rachael Savage has not held a public office before, having owned and operated a Seattle business, The Vajra, for the last two decades.

Savage is a self-described Republican, campaigning on reducing crime, creating more housing, and boosting the local economy — all of which have a common denominator in her opinion, dealing with the city’s drug addiction crisis.

Savage is more than three decades sober after struggling through her own drug addiction.

For Mercedes Rinck, housing and affordability, workers’ protections, continuing climate preservation, and improving public transportation are among her top priorities.

She is also a strong advocate for utilizing progressive revenue sources, including Jumpstart funding, capital gains tax, high payroll tax, and real estate transfer tax, to address and resolve Seattle’s ongoing budget crisis.

City Council District 2

After Mark Solomon decided not to run for reelection, the search to fill the seat representing District 2 kicked off.

In Tuesday’s general election, Eddie Lin earned 68.3% of the vote (21,680 votes) while Adonis Ducksworth finished second with 9,913 votes (31.2%), according to initial King County data.

Lin is an assistant attorney at the Seattle City Attorney’s Office’s housing division, while Ducksowrth is the communications and policy adviser for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

During his time with the Office of Housing, Lin has campaigned that he has the answers to solve Seattle’s housing issues, while also advocating for a fairer tax system for residents.

Finding housing solutions for those experiencing homelessness, creating safer roads, and preventing gun violence are among Ducksworth’s top priorities.

District 2 includes Beacon Hill, Chinatown International District, Columbia City, Rainier Beach, and Seward Park.

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