KING COUNTY, Wash. — Four seats on the nine-member Metropolitan King County Council are on the ballot Tuesday, and voters will choose representatives for Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8. Only two seats, in districts 2 and 8, have contested races. The candidates for districts 4 and 6 are both running unopposed.
This is the first election cycle under a change voters approved in 2022 that shifted King County elections from odd-numbered to even-numbered years, aligning them with state and federal elections to increase voter participation.
The County Council serves as King County’s legislative branch, adopting laws, approving the county budget and overseeing major regional services, including public transit, public health, housing and homelessness programs, the criminal legal system and other county operations.
That oversight role has received renewed attention amid financial problems at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. A forensic audit initially identified $8 million in unreconciled funds and $4.26 million in administrative overspending, prompting the council to demand corrective action and consider what dissolving the agency would entail. A later review determined the $8 million discrepancy was an accounting error but identified a roughly $16.7 million unrecoverable shortfall. Seattle and King County have since moved to take back nearly $160 million in homelessness-service contracts the authority previously administered.
Read more on KIRO7’s coverage on the KCRHA.
District 2: Rebecca Saldaña & Toshiko Hasegawa
Both candidates vying to represent King County District 2, which covers much of central and southeast Seattle along with neighboring communities in south King County, have described themselves as progressive but with slightly different views on the county’s future.
State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña has represented the 37th Legislative District for nearly a decade, while Toshiko Hasegawa has served on the Port of Seattle Commission since 2022 and was its president in 2025.
They are competing for the seat previously held by Girmay Zahilay, who left the council after being elected county executive. Zahilay has endorsed Hasegawa, citing her work on child care, youth investments, and community safety.
Hasegawa has centered her campaign on affordability and preventing displacement. Her campaign platform calls for more transit-oriented development, eviction-prevention and rental-assistance programs, and stronger constituent services for residents navigating county programs. She also supports expanded child care, reduced transportation costs, and policies intended to improve housing stability.
Saldaña has similarly emphasized affordability, housing, and public services. Her campaign says she would support abundant housing, faster and more reliable public transit, expanded child care, and investments to prevent gun violence. She is also campaigning on labor protections, progressive taxation, environmental justice, and protections for immigrant communities.
District 8 : Teresa Mosqueda & Nick Duda
District 8 is the other contested County Council race on the ballot, with incumbent Teresa Mosqueda facing challenger Nick Duda.
Mosqueda previously served on the Seattle City Council before winning her County Council seat in 2023. According to her campaign, Mosqueda’s priorities include expanding affordable housing, investing in behavioral health and gun-violence prevention, and supporting transit, child care, and workers.
According to his campaign, Duda, the challenger, previously worked in private-sector data analytics and later on Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera’s staff. He has made public safety and government accountability central to his campaign, arguing the county needs to better measure whether programs receiving taxpayer money are producing results. He has also emphasized addressing addiction through treatment and improving the county’s approach to housing and permitting.
Districts 4 and 6 are both uncontested, with incumbents Jorge Barón and Claudia Balducci running unopposed. Barón represents District 4, which covers northwest Seattle from Belltown north to Broadview. His campaign says his priorities include improving public safety and the legal system. Balducci represents District 6 on the Eastside. Her campaign emphasizes affordability and housing, transportation and the region’s expanding light-rail system, public safety, environmental protection, and government accountability.
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