(The Center Square) – The King County Council has appointed Deputy Executive Shannon Braddock to serve as the acting lead of the county after Dow Constantine stepped down from the role to become Sound Transit CEO.
Constantine started his first day as the head of the Seattle metropolitan area’s public transit agency on Tuesday. Before his departure, he appointed Braddock to serve as interim county executive until the county council voted to appoint an active lead.
Braddock will serve as the acting executive until the council chooses an appointed executive, who will serve until a successor is elected in November. The appointed Executive could be Braddock or another candidate put forward by council.
She the first woman to become King County executive. She is expected to help lead the charge in proposing a 2026-2027 budget that fills a $150 million gap.
Revenue challenges and federal funding halts are immediate challenges facing King County. During a King County Council meeting on Tuesday, Braddock said her goal as acting executive is to keep stability in place and continue moving King County priorities forward, and work with the county council to propose a “responsible” budget.
Before joining Constantine’s office in 2017, Braddock served as the chief of staff for former King County Councilmember Joe McDermott.
Braddock has also run for office herself. In 2015, she narrowly lost to Lisa Herbold for the Seattle City Council District 1 seat that represents the West Seattle area.
In 2018, Braddock ran for the State 34th District Senate seat, but only collected 41.7% of votes and lost to Joe Nguyen, who is now the director of the Washington Department of Commerce.
Constantine left the King County executive job, where he had a salary of just under $270,000, to take on the Sound Transit job where he will make at least $450,000.
Braddock spent her early years in Whatcom County but has lived in King County for the last 26 years.
“I don’t intend to go anywhere else from this place,” she said. “I love it here. I feel really honored to work on public policy on behalf of the 2.3 million residents of King County”
Braddock was asked if she would consider running for executive’s office after 2025, but said she is not going to serve in 2026 and beyond.
Braddock instead voiced confidence in other candidates for county lead, which she described as “strong.”
The three top candidates for King County executive are King County Councilmembers Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay, as well as King County Assessor John Wilson.
