In King County and Across America Voters Choose Pro-Worker Vision

November 8, 2023

With many ballots left to be counted, King County election results painted a partial picture of who will govern Seattle, King County, and cities across our region.

In Seattle, voters passed the Housing Levy which makes a historic investment in building housing and creating good jobs for people in our community. In Seattle City Council, labor-endorsed candidates Joy Hollingsworth, and Cathy Moore appear on track to win. All other races are too close to call after the first round of ballots.

In King County, MLK Labor-endorsed candidates Girmay Zahilay (District 2) and Claudia Balducci (District 6) have been re-elected to the County Council. Teresa Mosqueda (District 8) also appears on track to win based on the initial results.

At the Port of Seattle, both MLK Labor-endorsed candidates, Sam Cho and Fred Felleman, have been re-elected.

MLK Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Katie Garrow issued the following statement following Tuesday’s results.

“Union members work tirelessly every election cycle to elect leaders who are committed to standing with working people, not corporations and their special interests. It’s too soon to tell how many of the races we endorsed candidates in will shake out. Regardless of the outcome, the fate of the King County Labor Movement has never depended on one election or politician. Labor’s mission remains the same regardless of who gets elected: to improve the lives of working people, to ensure that the great prosperity of our region is shared and to eradicate bigotry and oppression in our communities. 

Seattle voters continued their support for addressing our housing crisis by passing the Seattle Housing Levy with nearly 66% support on the first round of ballots. This is not only an investment in the safety net for working-class people in our region, but also a commitment to creating good jobs for people in our community.

We look forward to all ballots being counted over the next week and getting a full picture of who will serve our communities. Regardless of the final result, the Labor Community looks forward to working with all elected leaders to improve the lives of working families and create good union jobs.”

MLK Labor is the central body of labor organizations in King County, Washington. We represent more than 150 unions and 100,000 workers. United, we are a voice for the interests and needs of working people in King County.