ELECTION 2026: King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion announces run for second term

A West Seattleite is the incumbent in the race for King County Prosecuting Attorney this year. In a news release today, Leesa Manion said she will seek a second 4-year term after making some significant changes in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office during her first term. So far, campaign finance records show she is the only candidate.

Manion started her last term by adding new units within the office for gun violence prevention, gender-based violence and prevention, an economic crimes and wage theft division, and a felony traffic unit. Last October, she modified case review policy in the office so that all charges referred by law enforcement would have a decision about whether they would be filed within 30 days.

In announcing her candidacy for re-election, Manion pointed to progress made, from juvenile justice to increased focus on retail theft and more. “I’m proud of our accomplishments, from reducing the pandemic-era backlog of unfiled cases in our courts to proactively addressing public safety priorities,” said Manion. “We made our office more responsive to the needs of our diverse communities and more effective at balancing accountability, crime prevention, and victim support.” She also points to work still to be done around hate crimes and federal overreach.

Manion won the election in 2022 with 58% of the vote. She succeeded Dan Satterberg, for whom she was chief of staff.