SEATTLE, Wash. — Only one seat on the Seattle City Council is up for grabs this Tuesday, with two candidates vying to represent District 5, which covers much of North Seattle.
Nilu Jenks and Julie Kang are running in a special election for the seat currently held by Debora Juarez.
Juarez was appointed to the council in July 2025 after former Councilmember Cathy Moore resigned, citing health and other personal reasons. Jenks and Kang were both among the finalists considered for that appointment.
District 5 includes North Seattle communities such as Lake City, Northgate and Broadview.
The candidates
According to her campaign website, Kang is an educator and longtime District 5 resident who has made public safety, homelessness and affordability major parts of her campaign. Her public-safety platform calls for rebuilding Seattle Police Department staffing levels, moving forward with a second police precinct in District 5 and using the Stay Out of Area Prostitution, or SOAP, zone along Aurora Avenue North to combat prostitution. She also calls for expanded substance-use treatment, greater coordination between the city and housing and public-health providers, and action against open-air drug markets.
Kang also points to the growing cost of housing, groceries, utilities and child care as pressures on working families. On housing, her campaign says growth in District 5 has not been matched by housing, sidewalks, transit and other infrastructure.
Jenks describes herself on her campaign website as a first-generation Iranian American whose work has centered on equity, civic engagement and public service. Her campaign says affordability, access to groceries and pharmacies, immigrant protections, and improving democracy are among her concerns for Seattle.
Jenks has pledged to champion the creation of 1,000 affordable housing units in District 5, including through public land, zoning changes, and partnerships with nonprofit developers. Her platform also calls for addressing food-access gaps by supporting local grocery stores and food co-ops and expanding farmers’ markets. She has also made implementing ranked-choice voting and making city government more accessible to District 5 residents part of her platform.
Public safety along Aurora
The special election comes after months of concern over gun violence along the North Aurora Avenue corridor, where shootings have sent bullets into homes and businesses and prompted residents and city officials to take additional steps aimed at improving public safety.
In one particularly violent 48-hour period in October, Seattle Police Department officers recovered about 200 shell casings from two separate shootings. Police said the casings came from both handguns and rifles.
The first shooting left more than 120 shell casings in a parking lot in the 1000 block of Aurora Avenue North. During a second shooting the following night, officers recovered about 80 casings from five firearms near North 107th Street and Stone Avenue North. A woman told KIRO 7 bullets went through her bedroom window, closet, and clothing during that shooting.
The October shootings were part of a broader series of incidents along the corridor. In May, police responded to gunfire near Aurora Avenue North and North 98th Street, where officers found shell casings on both sides of Aurora and damage to a vehicle and several buildings.
Public safety also represents one of the clearer differences between the candidates’ stated platforms.
Kang explicitly identifies gun violence, trafficking, fentanyl, and repeated small-business break-ins as public-safety concerns in District 5. Her campaign calls for increasing police staffing and moving forward with a second police precinct in the district, among other measures.
Jenks’ campaign platform addresses neighborhood conditions through proposals on housing, food access, family needs, and government responsiveness. Her campaign pledges 1,000 new affordable housing units in District 5 and says she would hold weekly drop-in office hours in the district to hear directly from residents.
Why this race is happening now
Tuesday’s election will determine who replaces Juarez, who was appointed, not elected, to fill Moore’s vacancy. The Seattle City Clerk says Juarez’s appointed term expires with the November 2026 special election, when a successor is elected and qualified.
The winner will not get a normal four-year term. The regular terms for Seattle’s district council positions expire in December 2027, so District 5 will return to the regular election cycle next year.
To learn more about Nilu Jenk’s campaign, you can visit her website.
To learn more about Julie Kang’s campaign, you can visit her website.
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