Seattle Nice: Should Rinck's Win Scare the Seattle City Council's Centrists?

We discuss on this week's episode of Seattle Nice.

By Erica C. Barnett

This week's episode of Seattle Nice could have been just me asking Sandeep why he was so incredibly wrong about the City Council election results over and over for 45 minutes, but instead, we did about five minutes of that and then got into why Alexis Mercedes Rinck beat appointed council incumbent Tanya Woo so thoroughly (58 to 42, at the latest count—an astonishing 16-point spread) and what it means for next year's citywide elections. 

To recap briefly: Tanya Woo, a Chinatown/International District community activist whose family owns a restaurant and apartment building in the neighborhood, lost her bid to unseat Tammy Morales in Council District 2 last year. In January, the council—now made up mostly of new members swept in on an anti-progressive backlash wave last year—appointed Woo to the citywide position formerly held by Teresa Mosqueda, who left to join the King County Council.

Woo was a bit of a nonentity on the council, voting with the centrist majority but never defining her own agenda. Rinck ran a positive campaign promising progressive change on the council, and voters responded positively, ignoring a last-ditch effort by businesses to paint her as a radical, "defund the police" leftist—a paint-by-numbers hit job that may have worn out its welcome in Seattle.

Personally, I think Rinck's victory should cause some concern for both the new council members (whose individual policy agendas are, with the exception of Cathy Moore, short-sighted, parochial, or both) and for Council President Sara Nelson, who's up for reelection next year.

I say "some" because progressive voters turn out in far greater numbers for even-year elections, when bigger races are on the ballot, than odd-year elections, which are mostly local. The fact that Rinck won so decisively is good news for future progressive candidates, to be sure, but I don't think they should gleefully look at her total vote count and translate that into "Sara Nelson is doomed," because the people who showed up for a Presidential election just aren't the same electorate that voted Sara Nelson and City Attorney Ann Davison and Mayor Bruce Harrell into office in 2021.

Sandeep agrees—sort of; he argued that Rinck won because she ran on a "centrist" message of unity that appealed to voters whose underlying political views haven't shifted meaningfully. (This is where I point out his defense of the dishonest anti-Rinck mailers on last week's episode, when he said it was accurate to describe her as a "defund the police" supporter who opposes all encampment removals).

And David wonders—rhetorically—why we never see moderate candidates who support new taxes to fund priorities like more police.

I do think this council has some significant weaknesses, including their lack of a positive legislative agenda and their focus on issues that don't impact most of their constituents, like removing a single hardened centerline that prevents dangerous left turns on Delridge Way SW and responding to coyote sightings in Upper Queen Anne. The seven district council members aren't up for reelection until 2027, but I think public perceptions of the council could reverberate next year, if Nelson gets a viable challenger.