Teresa Mosqueda has won the race to represent Vashon in King County Council’s District 8 — a swath of the county that also ranges through the disparate communities of Burien, White Center, and West Seattle, and from the International District to First Hill in Seattle.
Results from the Nov. 7 general election, as of Monday, Nov. 13, put Mosqueda at 54.9% of the vote, a nearly five-point improvement from her narrow lead on election night with just 50.2%. Fellow candidate and Burien mayor Sofia Aragon trailed with only 44.7% of the vote Monday.
Results will continue trickling in from King County until the election is certified later this month, but the results of Vashon’s elections are clear. (The results in each race listed are up-to-date as of Nov. 13.)
King County Council District No. 8
While the race looked like a photo-finish on the first night, Teresa Mosqueda has surged ahead to victory against Sofia Aragon, the mayor of Burien and executive director of the Washington Center for Nursing.
Mosqueda — a Seattle City Councilmember whose career includes work and activism in healthcare, labor and public policy, celebrated the win with congratulations from U.S. Congressmember Pramila Jayapal.
“This campaign has been centered on promoting healthy communities, the wellbeing of children, and investments in public health,” Mosqueda wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Mosqueda will be the first Latina person to serve on the King County Council, she said on X.
Vashon voters lent their support mightily to Mosqueda, as broken down by election-night precinct-level returns. Voters in the “Vashon” and “Baker” precincts, centered around the left and right sides of uptown Vashon respectively, voted 58% and 74% for Mosqueda, respectively.
In the “Burton” precinct, Mosqueda got the vote from 61% of residents; from 60% in “Dockton” on the lower half of Maury island; from 58% in “Maury,” centered around Maury Island Marine Park; and from 60% in “Tahlequah,” making up the east side of Wax Orchard Road SW all the way from the south ferry dock to SW 240th Street.
Final precinct-level data will be released to the public by Nov. 29.
Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR)
Pos. 4: Candy McCullough earned a commanding 91.5% of the vote and has won re-election against challenger Adam Knez (8.2%.) Knez’s name remained on the ballot although he dropped out of the race shortly after McCullough announced she would seek re-election.
Vashon-Maury Island Park & Recreation District
Pos. 3: Eight-year incumbent commissioner Bob McMahon has secured re-election, earning 69.6% of the vote against challenger Mike Spranger’s 30.1%.
McMahon is an engineer with experience in the Navy submarine service, the shipbuilding industry, manufacturing, project management and consulting. Challenger Spranger, who’s worked in logistics and is now pursuing a news-making kelp farming operation on the island’s south side, praised the board’s work during his campaign but said he’d be the right fit for the position.
King County Cemetery District No. 1
Pos. 1: Catherine L. Sullivan has won the election, earning 72.2% of the vote against challenger Deborah Brown’s 27.6%.
Sullivan will fill one open seat on Vashon’s Cemetery District board currently held by Jay Hanson, who is not running for re-election.
Vashon’s cemetery is the only publicly-owned cemetery in King County. The cemetery’s operations are funded by Vashon’s smallest tax levy, currently 2.5 cents/$1,000 of assessed property value.
Sullivan, a community member with experience in logistics, finance and work at Harborview Medical Center, said she ran to preserve the diverse pieces of the facility — its military, religious, progressive and creative roots.
Brown, a 35-year resident of Vashon, has worn many hats around the island, including Chamber of Commerce Director and working at the school district, health center and fire department. She’s said she’d seek to increase opportunities for schools to visit and learn history at the cemetery while prizing the solemnity that it deserves.
Vashon Health Care District
Islanders also elected two new commissioners Vashon’s Health Care District to fill the seats of current commissioners Eric Pryne and Don Wolczko, both of whom did not seek re-election.
Sarah Day, who ran unopposed for Pryne’s seat, is a member of Vashon’s Medical Reserve Corps and the former longtime school nurse of Vashon’s school district. In her role as the school nurse, Day garnered international attention for her work to improve Vashon’s low rates for childhood vaccinations, and widespread appreciation on Vashon, too, for her tireless work to keep students safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has also worked, early in her career, as a maternal healthcare nurse for Public Health – Seattle King County.
Bill Hamilton, who has had a long career in public policy and has served on the Health Care District’s Strategic Planning Taskforce, ran unopposed to fill Wolczko’s seat.
Day and Hamilton will now join Alan Aman, Wendy Noble, and Tom Langland on the board, which is now forging a new course for the district following the end of its relationship with Sea Mar Community Health Centers, a year ago. The district subsidized Sea Mar’s operations on Vashon until that time.
The district currently collects 1.95 million in tax revenue, or about 38.8 cents per $1000 of assessed value. This levy amount has not increased since the district’s first levy was adopted three years ago.
Other uncontested races
The following candidates ran unopposed in their races and are guaranteed to earn enough votes to win election or re-election.
VIFR Pos. 1: Brigitte Schran Brown
VIFR Pos. 5: Jim Whitney
Sewer District Pos. 1: Lyle E. Harris, Jr.
Water District 19 Position 1: Seth Zuckerman
Park District Pos. 1: Joshua Henderson
Park District Pos. 5: Hans Van Dusen
Airport District Positions 1, 2 and 3, respectively: Kaye Pierson, Truman O’Brien and Robert Therkelsen
Correction: An earlier version of this article did not include reporting that Holly Gilman had announced that she had withdrawn from her school board race with Kaycie Alanis, and had endorsed her opponent.
