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Debora Juarez

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Debora Juarez
Photograph of Debora Juarez
Juarez in 2016
President of the Seattle City Council
In office
January 4, 2022 – January 2, 2024
Preceded byLorena González
Succeeded bySara Nelson
Member of the Seattle City Council
from District 5
In office
January 4, 2016 – January 2, 2024
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byCathy Moore
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSeattle, Washington
EducationWestern Washington University (BA)
Seattle University (JD)
OccupationAttorney

Debora Juarez is an American lawyer and politician who served as the president of the Seattle City Council. She was first elected in 2015 to represent the 5th district. A member of the Blackfeet Nation, she was the first Native American person elected to the council.[1]

Early life and education

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Juarez is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. She grew up on the Puyallup Reservation in Tacoma, Washington with her five siblings. Her mother was Native American and her father was a first-generation Mexican-American.[2][3]

Juarez was the first member of her family to attend college.[3] She earned an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University and then a JD from Seattle University School of Law.[3]

Career

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Juarez began working as a public defender while attending law school at night. She spent five years as a public defender and then worked as an attorney for the Native American Project. She served two years as a King County Superior Court and City of Seattle Municipal Court pro-tem judge, and was the executive director of the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs under Mike Lowry and Gary Locke.[2][4]

Seattle City Council

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Elections

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In 2013, Seattle voters approved changing seven of the nine at-large district seats to district-based starting in 2015.[5] In 2015, Juarez ran for the district 5 postion, which represents North Seattle and had no incummbent councilmember.[6][7] In the August primary, Juarez came in first against seven challengers, with 39.25%, and advanced to the general election with ex-clergy member Sandy Brown, who earned 19.88% of the vote.[6][8]

A key focus of the general election was increasing the number of sidewalks in the district, which had the highest density of streets without sidewalks.[7][9] Brown ran on creating local improvement districts to pay for sidewalks, which Juarez criticised saying that they would unfairly benefit wealthy neighborhoods.[10] Juarez supported imposing developer impact fees as well as pushing for greater funding for sidewalks in SDOT's budget.[10] In the November general election, Juarez defeated Brown, 64% to 35%.[11][12]

Juarez ran for reelection in 2019 and faced five challengers in the primary.[13][14] In the August primary, Juarez came in first with 45.1% of the vote and advanced to the general election with lawyer Ann Davison Sattler, who earned 26.71%.[14][15] In the general election, Juaez focused her campaign on major projects she brought to the district, including the NHL training facility and a future light rail station.[16] She and Davison Sattler sparred on homelessness, with Juarez focusing on increasing funding and affordable housing, while Davison Sattler focused on housing up to 2,000 homeless people into abandonded warehouses while not increasing funding for homelessness services.[16][17][18]

In the general election, Juarez defeated Davison Sattler, 60.59% to 39.05%.[19][20]

Tenure

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Juarez was the first Indigenous person to serve as a Seattle city councilmember, and later the first Indigenous Council President.[4] She was sworn in by her two daughters and a niece on Monday, January 4, 2016.[1][21] Near the end of her first year in office, Crosscut.com described Juarez as a "wildcard councilmember" for her voting record and manner of "speaking more bluntly than most politicians would".[22]

As a councilmember, Juarez is well-known for focusing on her district and advocating for major capital projects, including the Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge over I-5 and a controversial police station in her district.[23][24][22] After members of the council were criticized for a 2016 vote against a street vacation necessary for a new arena to be built in the SoDo area, Juarez took a lead in the redevelopment of the Seattle Center Arena and was appointed chair of the Select Committee on Civic Arenas.[25][26][27] In September 2018, the council unanimously approved a renovation of the arena with plans to attract an NHL team to the city.[27]

She announced on December 12, 2022 that she would not seek re-election in 2023.[28]

Personal life

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Juarez lives in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Seattle.[29]

In 2012, Juarez pleaded guilty to driving under the influence after crashing her car in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood.[30]

Electoral history

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2015 election

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Seattle City Council District 5, Primary Election 2015[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Debora Juarez 6,635 39.25%
Nonpartisan Sandy Brown 3,360 19.88%
Nonpartisan Halei Watkins 2,431 14.38%
Nonpartisan Kris Lethin 1,307 7.73%
Nonpartisan Mercedes Elizalde 985 5.83%
Nonpartisan Debadutta Dash 968 5.73%
Nonpartisan David Toledo 959 5.67%
Nonpartisan Hugh H. Russell 231 1.37%
Nonpartisan Write-in 27 0.16%
Turnout 17,224 29.72%
Registered electors 57,959
Seattle City Council District 5, General Election 2015[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Debora Juarez 15,058 64.33%
Nonpartisan Sandy Brown 8,224 35.13%
Nonpartisan Write-in 126 0.54%
Majority 6,834 29.20%
Turnout 26,301 45.06%
Registered electors 58,372

2019 election

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Seattle City Council District 5, Primary Election 2019[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Debora Juarez 11,085 45.10%
Nonpartisan Ann Davidson Sattler 6,564 26.71%
Nonpartisan John Lombard 3,201 13.02%
Nonpartisan Tayla Mahoney 1,742 7.09%
Nonpartisan Mark Mendez 1,558 6.34%
Nonpartisan Alex Tsimerman 376 1.53%
Nonpartisan Write-in 50 0.2%
Turnout 25,762 40.32%
Registered electors 63,892
Seattle City Council District 5, General Election 2019[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Debora Juarez 19,532 60.59%
Nonpartisan Ann Davison Sattler 12,588 39.05%
Nonpartisan Write-in 114 0.35%
Turnout 34,192 53.35%
Registered electors 64,094

References

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  1. ^ a b Rickert, Levi (January 5, 2016). "Debora Jaurez, First American Indian, Sworn in to Seattle City Council". Native News Online. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Walker, Richard (November 6, 2015). "She Won! Debora Juarez, Blackfeet, Is New Seattle City Council Member". Indian Country Today. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Debora Juarez Subject Files, 2009-2023". Archive West. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  4. ^ a b Reyna, Luna (March 17, 2022). "'I'm not a token': Seattle council president Debora Juarez opens up". Cascade PBS. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Ross; Burn, Hannah (December 10, 2013). "The Woman Behind City Council Districts: "Everything In The World Is A Business"". KUOW. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b Beekman, Daniel (October 22, 2015). "Ex-clergyman, attorney fighting for North Seattle City Council seat". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b Groover, Heidi (September 2, 2015). "Still Don't Know Who Won the Primary Election? Here's Some Help". The Stranger. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  9. ^ Spitzer, Gabriel (October 23, 2015). "In Seattle's Sidewalk-less District 5, Voters Want A City Council Rep Who Walks The Talk". KNKX. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Kelety, Josh (October 7, 2015). "District Five Sidewalk Brawl: Brown Versus Juarez". Seattle Met. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  11. ^ Connelly, Joel (November 3, 2015). "Burgess up, Deborah Juarez and Lorena Gonzalez are new Seattle City Council members". Seattle PI. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Candidates running for Seattle City Council in 2019". My Northwest. February 15, 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  14. ^ a b Black, Lester (June 19, 2019). "In a Backlash Year, Can Debora Juarez Win a Second Term?". The Stranger. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  15. ^ a b "Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. August 19, 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  16. ^ a b Gutman, David (September 21, 2019). "Juarez, Sattler spar in contentious Seattle City Council District 5 debate". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  17. ^ Black, Lester (September 26, 2019). "This Seattle City Council Candidate Wants To Force Thousands Of Homeless People Into Abandoned Warehouses". The Stranger. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  18. ^ King, Angela; Radill, Amy (September 23, 2019). "Fiery exchanges mark District 5 debate between Juarez and Davison Sattler". KUOW. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Election Results" (PDF). kingcounty.gov. King County Elections. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  20. ^ Bowman, Nick (January 1, 2020). "Meet all of 2020's Seattle City Councilmembers". My Northwest. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  21. ^ Martin, Genesee (January 7, 2016). "New City Council sworn in to start year". Queen Anne & Magnolia News. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  22. ^ a b Kroman, David (September 22, 2016). "Councilmember asks if Seattle has lost touch with reality". Crosscut.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  23. ^ Barnett, Erica C. (January 31, 2019). "The Seattle City Council Primary Election Is Heating Up: Part 2". Seattle Magazine. Juarez is well-known for her almost hypervigilant focus on her district, particularly during the council's annual budget deliberations.
  24. ^ Kroman, David (January 13, 2016). "Street level politics come to Seattle, led by Debora Juarez". Crosscut.com. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  25. ^ Daniels, Chris (October 2, 2018). "Milestone meeting in New York sets up fate of NHL in Seattle". King 5 NBC News.
  26. ^ Daniels, Chris (December 13, 2017). "How the Seattle Center arena rose from the SoDo ashes". King5. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  27. ^ a b Groover, Heidi (September 25, 2018). "Seattle City Council approves $700 million renovation of KeyArena". Seattle Times.
  28. ^ Cohen, Joseph (December 12, 2022). "Seattle City Council President Debora Juarez won't seek reelection". Crosscut.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  29. ^ "Councilmember Debora Juarez » Blog Archive » UPDATE! 130th Street Station Call to Action". Retrieved 2021-12-24.
  30. ^ "Top primary candidate for Seattle City Council seat pleaded guilty to DUI". The Seattle Times. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
  31. ^ "Election Results - Official Final Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. November 22, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
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