Race for King County Council District 2 seat takes shape with Saldaña and Hasegawa

The field is taking shape for the 2026 run to represent portions of Capitol Hill, Eastlake, the Central District, South Seattle, plus the U District, Laurelhurst, Ravenna, Tukwila, and Skyway on the King County Council.

This week, Port of Seattle Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa announced her campaign for the council’s District 2 seat formerly held by newly elected King County Executive Girmay Zahilay.

“I’m running to make King County more affordable and livable for working families,” Hasegawa said in her campaign announcement. “That means expanding access to childcare, lowering transportation costs, protecting housing stability, and making sure public systems actually work for the people who rely on them. I’ve spent my career delivering results, and I’m ready to do that work on the County Council.”

In December, State Senator Rebecca Saldaña she was also seeking the county council seat. “In this moment when people feel really afraid and maybe hopeless and a little distracted, I want to remind people that we have power, and that it’s in our connections and relationships with one another, and that we can do hard things.” Saldaña told The Urbanist upon the launch of her campaign.

To end 2025, former Chief of Operations in the King County Executive office Rhonda Lewis was selected by the council to fill Zahilay’s seat through the 2026 election.

Lewis is the first Black woman to join the council and gives the body its first ever woman-majority. She agreed not to run for the seat as part of the nomination process for the interim appointment.

For Capitol Hill area voters, the process to address safety concerns and infrastructure investments around the county’s planned Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union is likely to emerge as a key issue in the race.

Candidates vying for the District 2 seat will battle through the August primary when the top two will go on to face off in November.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support