(The Center Square) – Metropolitan King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay has thrown his hat in the ring to be the next King County executive.
Zahilay announced his campaign for the county lead position on Monday, adding that his campaign is focusing on supporting working families and improving public safety.
Zahilay joins fellow King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci and King County Assessor John Wilson in the 2025 race for county executive. All three candidates for the nonpartisan office are Democrats.
Last month, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that he would not run for reelection next year. He has served in the role for the past 15 years.
Zahilay’s campaign will seek more funding for affordable housing, and work toward streamlining private and public-sector housing developments.
All three candidates are prioritizing public safety in the region. Zahilay’s approach to improving safety is through repairing what he calls a broken justice system, ending gun violence, and tackling the root causes of crime.
Zahilay has served on the King County Council since 2020. Prior to that, he worked at the White House as an intern during the Barack Obama administration, and practiced business law in New York City and Seattle.
The 37-year-old left Sudan with his parents when he was only 3 years old. Zahilay grew up in south Seattle before earning degrees from Stanford University and UPenn Law. He said while growing up in Seattle public housing, he experienced homelessness.
“When my family fled persecution as refugees, King County embraced us, providing us the affordable public housing, quality public schools, and good jobs we needed to rebuild our lives,” Zahilay said in his announcement.
This year, Zahilay successfully led the passage of an ordinance that will increase the minimum wage in unincorporated parts of King County to a high of $20.29 next year. That is one of the highest minimum wages in the country.
He also helped pass a comprehensive gun violence prevention bill that King County utilizes and helped lead the Crisis Care Center Levy to build five crisis care centers to help address behavioral health needs across the county.
Zahilay is endorsed by Washington Governor-elect Bob Ferguson and Attorney General-elect Nick Brown.
“I’ve seen him deliver major legislation from workforce housing bonds, to crisis care centers, to regional gun violence prevention strategies,” Ferguson said in his endorsement. “Girmay will be an excellent county executive.”