2025 GENERAL ELECTION TURNS THE HELMLEFT
With the 2025 general election now behind us, and the campaigns disbanding, we can take stock of what we have lost, and what we have won. The overarching results are not good for rental housing providers. Many cities and the state seem to have this itch to continue moving in a leftward direction regardless of the consequences and fallout. This is a quick glance at some of the major races from across the state.
City of Seattle:
The only good news coming from Seattle this election is that incumbent Bruce Harrell will keep his job as mayor as he beat out a lauded contender in Katie Wilson. Council President and moderate council voice Sara Nelson will lose her seat as her opponent Dionne Foster won by nearly 17%.
The only elected Republican in all of Seattle government, City Attorney Ann Davison, is also out as she was crushed by nearly 30,000 votes in favor of Erika Evans. That is a rough outcome for any voter who feels like the helm of the Seattle ship had been turning back toward a sane direction over the last few years. Only time will tell how much of a swing back the other way the proverbial Seattle ship will be taking.
King County:
The new King County Executive will be Girmay Zahilay, who bested Claudia Balducci by over 8,000 votes. The numbers were very close on election night, but with subsequent ballot counts Zahilay’s lead only grew. This won’t come as a huge surprise as Zahilay did quite well in the August primary, but the initial vote count was closer than many expected. Balducci will continue to serve in her seat on the King County Council; there will be an election in November of 2026 to determine who will occupy now-Executive Zahilay’s seat.
With regard to the King County Council, it looks as though Sarah Perry will win the District 3 seat, and Stephanie Fain will win the race for District 5.
Pete von Reichbauer and Reagan Dunn both win their districts of 7 and 9 respectfully with commanding victories for both.
Snohomish County:
House Representative and current Snohomish County Council Member Sam Low held his seat with a nearly 2,000-vote margin over his opponent Kelli Johnson, which is a great win for housing providers in Snohomish County.
City of Issaquah:
Former Senator and Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Mullet will be the new Mayor of Issaquah.
City of Spokane
Position 3 will continue to be held by Councilmember Zach Zappone, who has worked to move Spokane in a detrimental direction for housing providers. His challenger, Chris Savage, unfortunately lost by just about 1,800 votes.
In an extremely tight race too close to call at the time of publication, it appears as if longtime housing advocate, Councilmember Jonathan Bingle, will lose his seat in what is an incredibly tight race. The race is close enough that there will be a recount, so we will await those results.
Bingle’s presence on council was needed to help fellow conservative Councilmember Michael Cathcart keep a hold on the reins of Spokane as the city has become one of the most progressive city councils in the state. Unfortunately, the incoming council member Sarah Dixit and Bingle could not be further apart on their political ideals.
City of Tacoma:
Anders Ibsen will be the next Mayor of Tacoma, beating out current Councilmember John Hines by over 6,000 votes. While it is unfortunate that Hines was not successful in his bid for mayor, as he has always been an advocate of small rental housing providers, he will retain his seat on council and will be able to cast a vote for Councilmember Rumbaugh’s Measure 1 rollbacks.
City Council District 5 incumbent Joe Bushnell will keep his seat here with a wide margin of victory, beating out Democratic Socialist Zev Cook by a 33% margin.
City of Bellevue:
RHAPAC-endorsed candidate Jared Nieuwenhuis will serve another term on the Bellevue City Council as he walks away with a nearly 3,000-vote victory.
In some races too close to call, we have Vishal Bhargava versus Paul Clark and Conrad Lee versus Naren Briar. Both Bhargava and Briar are in the lead at the time of printing, but the lead is narrow.
City of Kirkland:
This city has possibly the best news of any city in the state for RHAPAC candidates. All three RHAPAC-endorsed candidates won their races. Councilmember Jon Pascal will retain his District 7 seat, and he will be joined by newcomers Ken Oberman, who beat out the sitting Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold for District 2, and RHAWA member Catie Malik for District 3. All three of these councilmembers will work toward better policy for rental housing providers in the City of Kirkland.
STATE LEGISLATIVE RACES
District 5: Chad Magendanz (R), State Senate
The former State Representative trailed the current appointed Senator Victoria Hunt by 3,000 votes and looks like he will lose his bid to fill the seat that was tragically vacated as former Senator Bill Ramos passed away earlier this year. Magendanz would have helped to break up the Democratic majority in the senate.
District 26: Michelle Caldier (R), State Senate
This race initially was shaping up to be one of the most encouraging legislative races statewide. Caldier has represented the 26th for 11 years in the House of Representatives and trailed Democratic appointee Deb Krishnadasan by just 322 votes in the August primary. Unfortunately, Caldier lost this race by just shy of 2,000 votes. She would have been a supermajority breaker if she was elected.
The small silver lining is that Caldier will still maintain her seat in the House of Representatives for District 26 and will continue to advocate for rental housing providers in Olympia.
Senator Krishnadasan was appointed earlier this year after Senator Emily Randall was elected to Congress.
District 33: Kevin Schilling (D), State Representative
This race looked to be the bright spot in an otherwise gloomy election. On election night and the following day ballot count, Schilling, the current Mayor of Burien, was leading appointed Democratic incumbent Edwin Obras. Unfortunately, as the third round of ballots were counted, Schilling lost his lead, and at the time of printing it appears as though Obras will keep his seat.
Schilling is a Democrat but very moderate in his views and would have been a voice of reason in Olympia. The Democratic Party establishment was extremely concerned about allowing a moderate Democrat to take this seat—so concerned that more money was spent trying to tie Schilling to MAGA policies than was spent fighting Republican Michelle Caldier in District 26.
Obras had the Democratic machine behind him, as he was an automatic “Yes” vote for anything party leadership requested, including rent control.
Kevin Schilling has been a very outspoken critic of how housing is being handled in the state and has testified against various rent-control-like policies numerous times in his public capacity, which has led to constant opposition by his own party.
District 48: Amy Walen (D), State Senate
Walen lost to appointed incumbent Senator Vandana Slatter by a sizable 12% margin. However, Walen—a current District 48 Representative—will keep her House seat and continue to be a moderate voice of reason among her own party, hopefully working with newly elected Representative Schilling to be the grown-ups in the decision-making rooms.
In conclusion, there is a lot to be concerned about and a lot to be grateful for with regard to the primary results. I want to touch on a point that connects to my article from last month’s issue of CURRENT. My article explained the importance of off-year elections; especially local elections that deal with the most visible and tangible problems in daily life. I encouraged everyone to think locally and avoid tying everything to Washington, D.C. Washington State voter turnout was abysmal—about 25% of registered voters.
Is that number far off from previous off-year elections? No, it isn’t, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. People need to pay attention to these off-year elections. Don’t be so hyper focused on the circus in WashingtonDC. You know who is counting on voters to stay home? The Democratic Social
Party and many other progressive groups. When are the years they make the biggest elected seat grabs? Off-year elections. Why? Because, apart from the newly elected New York City Mayor no one is paying attention. One of the major Tacoma For All leaders was just elected to the Pierce County Planning Commission. People need to pay attention.
I know the presidential and gubernatorial elections are much more fun and flashy and high drama, but they don’t affect your life nearly as much as your local legislators, city councilmembers, and county planning commissioners.
This leftward itch is even more of a reason to be a member of an association such as RHAWA. With the slew of new policies bound to be introduced in Olympia when the 2026 Legislative Session begins in January, statewide rent control, and local city councils all trying to put their own fingerprints on landlord-tenant law; housing providers need to be informed and up to date on all things rental housing. This is the purpose of the Rental Housing Association of Washington and the Rental Housing Association Political Action Committee (RHAPAC). If you want to help please consider supporting the
RHAPAC. These dollars are how we work all over the state on your behalf. Think local and get involved.