Anyone who follows Seattle City Hall knows Councilmember Sara Nelson has strong convictions and a thick skin.
An effective lawmaker, Nelson challenges conventional Seattle thinking and champions underdogs — from struggling small business owners to those concerned about police responding to emergency calls in their neighborhoods.
The editorial board endorses Nelson’s reelection for Position 9, one of two citywide representatives on City Council.
It is important to understand where Seattle stood when Nelson first was elected four years ago. Coming out of the pandemic, the city labored to find a workable homelessness policy while struggling with a hangover from the fizzled movement to defund police.
Appropriately, Nelson put restoring police staffing as her top priority. In 2023, after the election of five new council members, Nelson finally had a workable majority of like-minded leaders. She became council president in January 2024.
In its first year, the new City Council adopted 14 pieces of public safety-related legislation, a record number since 2015. These include measures to increase police recruitment and retention, as well as tackling street racing, prostitution and drug-related disorder.
Police stats show overall crime dropped from 2022 to 2024.
“This council has changed the direction and the tenor of the city and we’re delivering measurable results,” Nelson told the board. “I believe the best resistance to what’s coming out of D.C. is a well-run city.”
Nelson supports Mayor Bruce Harrell’s approach to cleaning up homeless encampments after offering people somewhere else to go. She also advocates for recovery services, tucking $300,000 in the city budget to offer treatment-on-demand. Nelson importantly pushes the policy conversation on Seattle’s funding of substance use disorder responses, which often focus too heavily on reducing harm instead of changing behaviors.
Seattle faces budget challenges where overspending results in ever-higher taxes. Nelson wants to see results when stewarding public dollars.
“We have to break that tendency to look for more revenue instead of looking first and foremost at whether or not our existing expenses are generating the outcomes that we want,” said Nelson.
Challengers to Nelson include Mia Jacobson, Connor Nash and Dionne Foster, former executive director of the Progress Alliance of Washington, which focuses on the “health of the state’s progressive movement across multiple issue areas.”
Foster is a strong candidate. However, the editorial board was frustrated by her evasiveness answering questions about homelessness and public safety policy. Foster too easily fits the mold of a Seattle council member circa 2020 — a return to an era voters ought to want to avoid.
Sara Nelson has proven fortitude and solid priorities. She is the right leader for this moment and deserves reelection to Position 9.
