It’s Not a Demotion by Nathalie Graham King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s county council seat has barely cooled, and next year’s election is already on. Washington State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) announced—first at a private event Sunday, then officially on Monday—that she’s running.  The seat will be wide open in the November election because Zahilay only considered appointees who would “care take” the position, not seek election for the seat.  Saldaña started her career as a politician by way of the King County Council. Back in 2016, the council appointed her—then the executive director of racial justice advocacy organization Puget Sound Sage—to fill Pramila Jayapal’s seat after she peaced out for Congress. She became the only woman of color in the senate. From that first session, Saldaña made her name as a bold progressive. She’s won workplace protections for farmworkers, ride share drivers, and strippers. She helped shepherd the Climate Commitment Act and the Paid Family Medical Leave program. Currently, she’s banging the drum for more progressive revenue—one she’s been pounding for years and that’s gotten her results like the state’s capital gains tax. In short, she is really good for the state senate.  But, after 10 years in the legislature as the poster child for progressive policy-making—and a brief moment running for commissioner of public lands—Saldaña wants to trade Olympia for somewhere closer to home.  “A lot of people think that people come to the county to retire, because it's not as high profile,” Saldaña says.  She says she’s not doing that—even though being on King County Council will let her play on the softball team called the Rebels she had to abandon in North SeaTac when she started working in Olympia. Ten years without softball! “I finally found the fall ball, and I was able to do the league this fall,” she says. Okay, nine years.  But no, it’s not about softball, that’s just a perk. And it’s not just that she wants to ditch the senate after a decade.The real draw to the county council for Saldaña is that she’ll be able to effect change more directly.  Saldaña says counties in Washington have dragged their feet in ways that have limited some legislative wins. “ Counties have not been progressive in how they show up in Olympia, and have often been really a challenge,” Saldaña says. Some of those legislative areas are in public safety and behavioral health. She says part of improving behavioral health systems includes beefing up those services in King County jails. “No one should lose their life when they're in our custody,” she says, citing the King County jail system where people keep dying in custody. A bill she sponsored last session created a statewide board to “improve jail conditions, transparency, and accountability.” It died in committee.   Plus, being on the council will allow her to be closer to the people her policy-making impacts.  At the state, she’s worked on policies to protect people, especially immigrant communities from Trump. Being on council would take it a step further.  “Being closer to my community at this moment is something that I think I need for my own heart,” she says. Together with the other Latino members of the council, Jorge Baron and Teresa Mosqueda, Saldaña says she’ll use her position “to provide as much protection as possible for the community.” Just being local would add a whole dimension to Saldaña’s efforts, especially around supporting workers. County council members can show up to strikes, leverage their roles, and encourage private sectors to support worker rights, Saldaña explains. Saldaña will be on those picket lines—sorry to everyone whose hands are still sore from all the wringing they did about Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson supporting the Starbucks strike.  For now, Saldaña’s county council priorities look a lot like her senate ones, just smaller, and less specific, since we’re still operating in the hypothetical realm of “announcing a campaign a year in advance.” (She has to announce so early because legislative laws forbid her from fundraising a month before the legislative session starts—that date is Friday—and throughout the session). She wants to improve transit, reduce budget cuts, increase affordability, make the air and storm water cleaner, and support workers.  Saldaña also penned the Washington Voting Rights Act so she’s hoping other people run for the seat, too.  “It's important that people have choices,” Saldaña says. And they likely will. Port Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa announced in a weird press release Sunday that, no, she wasn’t running for the seat, but she was strongly considering it. I guess we’ll just have to wait until she makes up her mind. ...read more read less