Tammy Morales listens to public comments at Seattle City Hall on Sept. 17. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
On December 4, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales announced her resignation from the District 2 seat, effective January 6. Following her departure, the Council will have 21 days to appoint a temporary replacement who will serve most of 2025. The seat will be on the ballot in 2025, with the election winner assuming office upon certification of results to complete the final two years of Morales’s term.
In her resignation announcement, Morales described the decision as “very difficult” and voiced sharp criticism of her Council colleagues. She condemned their passage of 11 public safety bills, stating they failed to provide “meaningful accountability for our police department.” This comes despite a 2023 federal judge’s dismissal of most of the federal consent decree over Seattle’s police, citing that the “Seattle Police Department has made tremendous improvements in its policies, methods of operation and leadership with respect to the areas of use of force, stops and detentions and crisis intervention.”
Morales also expressed frustration over police presence in Council chambers during discussions on controversial legislation and the arrest of protesters disrupting meetings. She highlighted the personal toll of her role, saying, “[t]his role has caused my mental and physical well-being to deteriorate.”
Morales, who narrowly lost to then-Councilmember Bruce Harrell in 2015, won the District 2 seat in 2019 and secured a close reelection in 2023 against Tanya Woo. Woo was later appointed to fill the citywide Council seat vacated by Teresa Mosqueda, who moved to the County Council. Woo, however, was defeated in 2024 by Alexis Mercedes Rinke, who joined the Council in late November.
Morales’s resignation adds another race to the 2025 ballot. All citywide positions — Mayor, City Attorney, and Council Positions 8 and 9 — will also be up for reelection. Mayor Bruce Harrell, City Attorney Ann Davison, Council President Sara Nelson, and Councilmember Alexis Rinke are all expected to seek reelection.
