(The Center Square) – There is likely to be a progressive shift to the Seattle City Council in 2026 after three council races look to be favoring progressive candidates after initial general election results on Tuesday night.
The most notable outcome is incumbent Seattle Citywide Representative and City Council President Sara Nelson (42%) losing to challenger Dionne Foster (58%), who most recently served as the executive director of the Progress Alliance of Washington. Foster represents a progressive alternative to Nelson’s centrist candidacy. Her platform includes a local capital gains tax and other progressive taxes to boost revenue for future city budgets.
Nelson’s term on the city council focused on crime and homelessness, including 14 public safety-related bills approved and signed into law in 2014. Approved legislation from last year includes the Stay Out of Drug Area, or SODA, and Stay Out of Area of Prostitution, or SOAP, zones ordinances, which intend to disrupt drug-related crime and sex trafficking crimes in certain areas throughout Seattle.
However, there were visible signs of frustrations between Nelson and fellow council members, including Dan Strauss who indirectly flagged Nelson for removing him from his vice chair role back in March, saying that it was “not a normal use of powers of the council presidency.”
The other citywide representative, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, easily won the Position 8 seat with 79% of votes over Republican Challenger Rachael Savage’s 20.5%. Through 2025, Rinck has been the most progressive representative on the city council. Her most notable impact was getting a business and occupation tax, or B&O tax, restructure approved by voters on Tuesday night. The measure is meant to provide relief to small businesses.
Savage, the owner of a crystal and incense shop in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, focused her campaign on addressing homelessness and crime in Seattle through more treatment centers and a city-run jail. She was endorsed by the Seattle Police Officers Guild and the King County Republican Party.
Lastly, in the open race for District 2, representing parts of South Seattle including the Chinatown-International District, Eddie Lin, an assistant city attorney for Seattle has 69% of votes compared to Seattle Transportation Department Communications and Policy Adviser Adonis Duckworth with 31% of votes.
Both candidates work for the city, but Lin has focused more on affordable housing and homelessness, whereas Duckworth prioritized public safety.
The newly-elected council members will be sworn in to office in January.
