FOLLOWUP: Here’s who’s being recommended to become your next two local State Legislators

If the King County Council goes with recommendations made today by the 34th District Democrats‘ Precinct Committee Officers, State House Rep. Emily Alvarado will succeed Joe Nguyen as this district’s State Senator, and Seattle School Board president Gina Topp will succeed Alvarado. The PCOs – who themselves are elected to those roles – voted in a special meeting held today in Bellevue and online, facilitated by the King County Democrats. (Since state legislators serve in partisan positions, when their jobs become open between elections, state law and party rules govern the process for choosing replacements.) The process required that three names be sent to the County Council, even if three people hadn’t declared interest in the positions, so although Alvarado was the only declared candidate for State Senator, her name will go to the council along with 34th chair Jordan Crawley and member Drew Estep (both of whom made it clear in brief speeches that they wholeheartedly support Alvarado for the job); for the job she would be vacating, five candidates were nominated – the PCOs chose to use ranked-choice voting, and Topp was the leader, followed by Seattle mayoral adviser Brianna Thomas and Burien deputy mayor Sarah Moore (final round of ranking ended at Topp 35, Thomas 14, Moore 4), so their names will go to the county council. (Side note: Topp said that if she gets the legislative appointment, she’ll stay on the School Board.)

WHAT’S NEXT: After ratification by the KC Democrats, the names go to the County Council, who will make their decision Tuesday. Public comment will be accepted at the council’s 11 am meeting, either in person or online – the agenda explains how; county councilmembers then will interview the candidates for both positions, make their decisions, and the appointees will be sworn in immediately. They’ll serve until these positions can go before voters this fall. The 34th District includes West Seattle, White Center, Burien, and Vashon/Maury Islands; Alvarado and Topp are both West Seattle residents.

Ivan Weiss January 19, 2025 (4:59 pm)

PCOs are elected by their neighbors in their precincts, not by the district organizations.

WSB January 19, 2025 (5:05 pm)

OK, guess I’m confusing it with all the meetings I’ve covered where PCOs were appointed. Will rework the wording.
- Ivan Weiss January 19, 2025 (5:17 pm)
  
  Appointed PCOs are appointed by district organizations to fill vacancies, in precincts where no one has stood for election.

ltm mgm January 19, 2025 (5:30 pm)

Just remember these 2 words….. No Moore. And yes I meant to spell it this way.

WS Res January 19, 2025 (6:19 pm)

Hear, hear. Anyone who reads the B-Town blog has a window on how dysfunctional THAT council is.

Admiral Mom January 19, 2025 (10:45 pm)

Proud of fellow admiral mom Gina Topp. However, this is a huge responsibility and she should pick between school board or legislature for the sake of her family. Two very demanding jobs. Good luck.

Another Admiral Mom January 21, 2025 (10:55 am)

Also very proud and excited for Gina (and us). If she believes she can do both (which I believe she can legally and otherwise), let’s support her! I also like to check when I say/think/see things like this (such as limiting her roles due to “the sake of her family”, if I replaced a female sounding name (or mom) with male sounding name (or father), how would it sound then?

anonyme January 20, 2025 (6:24 am)

I don’t understand how ranked choice voting applies when these candidates never appeared on a ballot for the positions they will be filling…? These are appointments; ranked choice voting implies that citizens have a voice in these selections.

WSB January 20, 2025 (12:08 pm)

Ranked-choice voting is a method – like simple majority voting or whatever – that can be applied to any sort of an election.
N in Seattle January 20, 2025 (3:30 pm)

In this case, the only eligible voters are elected PCOs for the 34th LD Dems.

Chris A January 21, 2025 (11:05 am)

The three names go to the King County Council. Although Gina was the top pick of the district, the KCC will interview candidates and is not bound to choose the top choice of the district so it is not automatic. Recently they chose the second place candidate from the 48th district. Both Gina and Brianna are outstanding people

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