Alexis Mercedes Rinck leads Seattle City Council race against Tanya Woo

- Alexis Mercedes Rinck leads the race to be Seattle's newest council member, representing District 8, outpacing Incumbent Tanya Woo in the November 2024 election .

As of Wednesday, Rinck is ahead by more than 42,000 votes, with roughly 60% of King County ballots counted.

District 8 is a citywide position, differing from other district positions which represent specific neighborhoods. The seat was previously held by Teresa Mosqueda, who was reelected in 2023. Mosqueda vacated her seat just two months later after being elected to the King County Council.

Woo was appointed to fill the vacant position, where she would only serve nine months before seeking reelection.

Mercedes Rinck will have to run for reelection again in a year's time, as the District 8 term won by Mosqueda only runs through Dec. 31, 2025.

Keep reading to learn more about each of the candidates.

Who is Tanya Woo?

Woo ran against District 2 council member Tammy Morales in 2023 and lost. Two months later she was appointed to the District 8 seat with a 5 to 3 vote.

Woo has enjoyed support from business groups and real estate PACs, which some argue represents the current city council's heel-turn moderate supermajority, following the departure of Lisa Herbold, Mosqueda and Kshama Sawant.

Woo has been in lockstep with the council's passing of controversial bills like the " Stay Out of Drug Area " and "Stay Out of Area of Prostitution," funding for video surveillance of high-crime areas , increasing bonuses for Seattle police officers despite a years-long national hiring shortage, and the contentious South King County correctional center ( SCORE ) vote, which was approved after members retreated from angry protesters in the council chambers to vote virtually.

Who is Alexis Mercedes Rinck?

Rinck is a University of Washington grad student who previously worked as assistant policy director for her alma mater. She later worked for the embattled King County Regional Homelessness Authority in its early days.

Rinck was endorsed by most local Democratic groups and labor unions, and held a sizable lead over Tanya Woo in the primary election. Alexis Mercedes Rinck says she was running to fight for solutions that are community-informed and research-backed.

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