Seattle Council picks CID activist Tanya Woo to fill open seat

Tanya Woo will step in to fill the vacant seat on the Seattle City Council in 2024.

The Council voted 5-3 Tuesday to approve placing Woo in the role. She will take over for Teresa Mosqueda, who left the council in early January to move over to the King County Council.

"I pledge to serve everyone in the city..." Woo said shortly after being selected. "I want to build more collaboration, especially on the council, a sense of unity, collaboration, and communication."

Woo will occupy Position 8 on the dais. It is a temporary position until the next council election in November. Woo said she'll be on that ballot in order to stay in the job.

RELATED: Tanya Woo sees support – and controversy – in bid for open Seattle Council seat

The Council’s pick of Woo caps a political sea change in Seattle that started in last November’s election. A supermajority of centrist candidates won on promises to improve public safety and tackle the city’s fentanyl crisis.

Woo, a small business owner and activist in the Chinatown-International District (CID), made a name for herself running a community watch group focused on public safety. She also led a successful effort in 2022 to kill the expansion of a homeless shelter in the CID and surrounding neighborhoods.

Those experiences prompted Woo to run for Council last year, with a focus on public safety. She tried unsuccessfully to unseat progressive South Seattle incumbent Tammy Morales. Woo lost that race by roughly 400 votes, or 1.5%.

Almost as soon as she lost, Woo’s supporters in the CID and South Seattle started to float her name as a replacement for the open seat, in some cases noting that she would be the only Asian-American voice on the current Council.

In the Council’s public hearing earlier this week, resident Amy Chen Lozano described Woo as “someone who looks out for the best interests of community and the best interests of Seattle.”

Woo also received backing from some members of Seattle’s business community. This proved controversial after a letter by former deputy mayor turned political consultant Tim Ceis promoting her candidacy leaked earlier this month.

Ceis urged wealthy individuals — who had spent millions to elect more business-friendly moderates to the Council last year — to back Woo for the open seat appointment.

“The independent campaign expenditure success earned you the right to let the Council know not to offer the left the consolation prize of this Council seat,” Ceis said.

That is a quote that Councilmember Morales noted before the Council voted for the replacement. Morales said she was disappointed in the process of selecting a temporary council member. She said that not all candidates got "a fair shake.

"It did become about big business telling donors they earned the right to tell this council who to choose, and that is deeply problematic and it is antidemocratic," Morales said.

Morales added that Seattle voters have rejected the notion that special interests can buy elections. She called the vote a "pivotal moment," calling on more people to become civically engaged, noting the city had record low voter turnout in November.

"Let this council vote be the catalyst for your entry into public engagement, and public action, and public service," Morales said. "We start now, we start today, and I'm ready to stand alongside all of you."

The rest of the Council commented before the final vote, noting that Seattle wants more collaboration, unity, and accountability from the council. Others also made a point to say that their decision was not influenced by outside actors.

"My vote has not been bought by anybody. I have kept an open mind," District 5 Councilmember Cathy Moore said.

At the public comment hearing earlier this week, Katie Wilson, who runs the Seattle Transit Riders Union, told council members to ignore those voices.

“We were incredibly dismayed to see the Chamber of Commerce consultant telling business interests that they have a right to this council seat because of all the money they poured into our elections,” Wilson said.

A total of 72 Seattleites put forth their names for consideration to fill the vacant seat on the council. The Council whittled that list down to eight candidates before holding community events, and the final vote on Jan. 23.

Below are council members' votes for a temporary candidate.

• Tammy Morales: Mari Sugiyama
• Maritza Rivera: Tanya Woo
• Rob Saka: Tanya Woo
• Dan Strauss: Vivian Song
• Joy Hollingsworth: Linh Thai
• Bob Kettle: Tanya Woo
• Cathy Moore: Tanya Woo
• Sara Nelson: Tanya Woo