(The Center Square) – Rhonda Lewis has been appointed to the King County Council District 2 seat, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the council.
Lewis served as King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s chief of staff for his District 2 office, and prior to that, was the chief of operations for former King County Executive Dow Constantine, where she oversaw nine departments with approximately 12,000 employees. According to a news release, in her role as COO, she helped create King County’s first Zero Youth Detention Strategic Plan and led the development of the county’s inaugural Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan.
“We have many challenges and opportunities over the next year as the King County Council works to address important issues that District 2 residents care about, like affordability and housing and homelessness,” Lewis said in a news release. “I look forward to partnering with my new colleagues and Executive Zahilay to meet these problems head on and do everything we can for District 2 and everyone else across the region.”
She was one of three finalists recommended by Zahilay to fill the vacant seat left by him when he was elected as the new county head. The other two were Cherryl Jackson-Williams and Nimco Bulale, who both have long history of service to communities throughout King County’s District 2, which encompasses the Seattle neighborhoods of University District, Ravenna, Eastlake, Capitol Hill and the Central District, as well as Allentown and Skyway.
“While constituents love me as their community champion, they believe that Rhonda Lewis has the right recipe of public sector experience to align with the role of the District 2 caretaker,” Jackson-Williams said in the same news release. “I couldn’t agree more.”
When Zahilay was sworn in on Nov. 25, he said he would only nominate individuals who have pledged to serve as a “caretaker” appointment and to not run for a full term in the 2026 election. Lewis vowed to not run for the seat in 2026 to ensure that District 2 voters will select the permanent office holder. So far, the 2026 District 2 race is headlined by state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, who announced her campaign for the county council seat on Sunday and will not seek reelection for her Senate seat.
