With the new district elections format, Seattle city voters face choices, choices and more choices in the City Council primary. To help you sort through the candidates, here's Crosscut's guide to all 47 contenders for the seven district positions and two at-large seats. The primary voting deadline is Aug. 4, when the field will be narrowed to 18 candidates.
Crosscut's guide is built for speed — to orient you to the districts, the candidates and their reasons for running for the council. There's a lot at stake in this first election under the new system: How will both neighborhood and citywide concerns about housing, transportation, growing income gaps and public safety be dealt with? How will the new council work with — or against — the mayor? How well will neighborhoods be represented, really?
In translating a new system from paper to reality, a lot will depend on the personalities and backgrounds of the people doing the work. So we think it's good to know something about everyone in the wide range of candidates running for each position. And you can use the links to jump to the candidates' websites or their emails to learn more about them and their issues.
Other good resources include: two minute statements from each candidate in the Video Voters' Guide produced by Seattle Ethics and Elections Office, Seattle Channel and King County TV; the online Voters Guide on the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission's site; and Seattle City Club's Elections 2015 page.
For those of us still getting used to the new concept, here's a map of the seven districts (two positions continue to be elected citywide).
