FOLLOWUP: County Council appoints Emily Alvarado as State Senator, Brianna Thomas as State House Representative for 34th District

(Images via King County TV)

After a process that started less than four weeks ago when new Gov. Bob Ferguson chose then-State Sen. Joe Nguyen to become Commerce Director, our area has a new State Senator and State House Representative, appointed this afternoon by King County Councilmembers. Above is newly appointed State Sen. Emily Alvarado; below is her subsequently appointed successor as State House Rep., Brianna Thomas, who is a policy adviser in the Seattle mayor’s office.

Sen. Alvarado followed her swearing-in by saying, “Let’s get to work on making life better for Washingtonians”; Rep. Thomas followed hers hours later – and moments ago – with a few rounds of thank-yous and “I’m having a ‘Miss America’ moment; I’m going to go before I cry,” noting that her dad was watching the livestream from out of state, and that she is looking forward to going to Olympia tomorrow morning.

The appointments were the culmination of daylong proceedings in the county council’s chambers downtown. The council had three appointments to make, these two for the 34th Legislative District, as well as one for the Eastside’s 41st Legislative District. They convened at 11 am for public comment on all the appointments, then interviewed the three candidates recommended for each position by the districts’ Precinct Committee Officers, and then made the appointments, each of which was immediately followed by a swearing-in. These are all interim appointments, until the positions can go to the full electorate.

Both women appointed today are West Seattle residents, but the 34th District spans beyond WS, to White Center and Burien as well as westward to Vashon and Maury Islands. The third state legislator for this district is House Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who did not seek the Senate appointment. Alvarado was the only serious candidate for it, as noted in our Sunday report; the other two finalists for the House appointment were Seattle School Board president Gina Topp – who was the 34th District PCOs’ top choice, though that did not bind the county councilmembers – and Burien Deputy Mayor Sarah Moore.

Michele January 21, 2025 (5:38 pm)

I am excited that Representative Thomas was appointed. Our district will be well represented.

Graham January 21, 2025 (5:46 pm)

It is beyond disappointing that again – as they have in other legislative districts – the King County Council appointed someone to our vacant state representative seat who was not the candidate selected by the community. Instead, in a backroom meeting that no one could observe, they chose a candidate who did have majority support from the 34th and was never elected to office.Gina Topp – in ranked choice voting – was selected by 69% of Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) as the top choice to fill the vacancy. PCOs are elected by voters in the 34th to represent them in this selection process. She won the selection process in a landslide.Additionally, when Gina ran for school board, she was elected with 89% of the vote across all of Seattle. Another landslide. She has true community support.Gina has also been endorsed by the local Democratic party in her run for office, while the appointed candidate was not when she ran for office.In the room today, speakers who asked the Council to support Gina all came from our 34th community. The appointed candidate had speakers who were not from our community.Time and again, Gina is the choice of voters and the local community. Unfortunately, the King County Council chose to deliberate out of sight and make a choice in a deal that did not represent their constituents.Thankfully, voters will have a chance to vote for a different choice starting this August.

Graham January 21, 2025 (6:22 pm)

Corrected error from above: The council chose a candidate who did NOT have majority support from the 34th.
Colton Myers January 21, 2025 (7:12 pm)

To be very fair, the PCO selection process can often times favor candidates who have more established name identification and recognition in their local party, whereas the Council takes the totality of both PCO consideration and interview + resume, etc into full consideration in their selection. Case in point, I knew when ranked choice voting was selected on Sunday that I was at severe disadvantage due to not being as known of a commodity and thus likely would not have a chance to be chosen by the voting members – BUT, that is the process that was decided upon, and I respected it, just as I respect the Council’s decision for their selection. Brianna will be a fantastic Representative for our community.
Ivan Weiss January 21, 2025 (8:59 pm)

The County Council has always had the final say on appointments to fill legislative vacancies. Just to name one example, it has disregarded PCO votes twice in the 33rd in recent memory. The Council’s criteria for selection are not the same as PCOs’ are, and are not required to be. In this case, there were two outstanding finalists, and in either case, the 34th was going to come out ahead.
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In the 10+ years I have known her, Brianna Thomas has been an outstanding advocate for working people, especially low-income working people, as evidenced by her work in the SeaTac minimum wage campaign and her work in the Mayor’s office. Gina Topp would have been an excellent choice also. I know she won’t be a sore loser, like one of her supporters appears to be,
- B January 23, 2025 (9:39 am)
  
  Nailed it! Thanks Ivan.
Admiral Mom January 21, 2025 (9:13 pm)

I had high hopes Gina Topp would get the seat, I really like her. However, I completely disagree she was the “candidate selected by the community”. What community? Because this process does not involve the community. It’s decided by PCOs. For school board I will say she won by a landslide and rightly so. Her opponent was a nice woman but NOT school board material. in my opinion. So Gina won with minimal effort and practically NO campaigning. I do watch closely these kinds of things. I thank Gina for her leadership and look forward to watching her advocate for students as president of the school board. In this case labor people were pushing strongly for their candidate and they won. It is not surprised because people in Seattle will rather protect jobs than education.
Wow January 21, 2025 (10:13 pm)

Imagine being this mad that a well-qualified woman of color was appointed over Dow Constantine’s wingwoman, who already holds another public office.

Colton Myers January 21, 2025 (6:07 pm)

Congratulations, Brianna! You will be a fantastic voice for our community here in the 34th!

AlkiDreamin January 21, 2025 (6:30 pm)

Congratulations, Brianna!! …ahem… Rep. Thomas. I am thrilled that you’ll be representing 34LD. Regarding comments about a back room deal, I am a longtime 34LD resident and while I couldn’t take time to comment in person, I did submit a written comment to the Council in support of Brianna Thomas. The folks in the room don’t represent all of the comments submitted in various ways. While PCO recommendations are welcome, as mentioned in the article they are not binding. The process for appointments is clear, transparent and was followed. I understand some might be disappointed at not having your preferred candidate chosen, that isn’t cause to challenge the validity of the process. We have two wonderful west seattle residents appointed and representing us and, after seeing what’s happening in the other Washington, this makes my day. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Colton Myers January 21, 2025 (7:13 pm)

Well said!

WestSeattleVoter January 22, 2025 (5:59 am)

Alvarado should immediately withdraw SB5222, and Thomas should withdraw HB1217, both of which cap rent increases at seven percent. This damages small landlords in West Seattle and the rest of the state who maintain low to moderate income housing by making repairs, maintenance, and new investment more difficult. Rent caps are a slow cancer that discourage new housing, not protect renters. If these pass the Legislature, Gov. Ferguson should veto them.

Charles Burlingame January 23, 2025 (9:47 am)

LOL, a House member or Senator can’t withdraw someone else’s bill.
Concerned Citizen February 7, 2025 (10:10 pm)

So agree with you on the rent control bills. The legislators know it harms tenants for anything beyond the very short term . More than 5,000 single family rentals have been lost since Seattle instituted rent control policies over the last five years. Studies from all over show the negative outcomes of rent control/stabilization. But they think it sounds good to their constituents and will help them get re-elected. Shame on them, using the most vulnerable for their selfish political gains. And the extreme left is doing the same to push their political ideals that have zero basis in any economic realities as they pertain to the rental housing market. No legislator should be able to vote as both a Rep and Senator.

Sarah Moore January 22, 2025 (9:31 pm)

Congratulations Rep. Thomas! While Topp got the largest number of PCO votes, this was a two part decision. The PCOs provided the Council with three choices, and Council chose among them. If there were some requirement that they select the top vote winner, why offer three candidates. I was honored to be considered alongside of Topp and Thomas, and am grateful for the opportunity to make my case to the PCOs and to Council.

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