Sara Nelson
2022 - Present
2025
3
Sara Nelson is a member of the Seattle City Council in Washington, representing Position 9 At-Large. She assumed office on January 1, 2022. Her current term ends on December 31, 2025.
Nelson ran for election to the Seattle City Council to represent Position 9 At-Large in Washington. She won in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sara Nelson was born in Sacramento, California. Nelson received a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Washington. She lectured at the University of Washington before becoming a legislative advisor to former councilmember Richard Conlin from 2002 to 2013. Nelson founded Fremont Brewing in 2009 with her husband.[1][2]
Nelson has been affiliated with the following organizations:[2]
- Cascade Public Media
- Brewers Association and its Government Affairs and Political Action Committees
- Washington Brewers Guild Government Affairs Committee
- The 43rd, 37th, 46th, and 36th LDs
- NARAL Pro-Choice Washington
- Planned Parenthood
- Washington Conservation Voters/Washington Environmental Council
- Sierra Club
- Ballard Alliance
- NSIA
- PSMS
Elections
2021
See also: City elections in Seattle, Washington (2021)
General election
General election for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large
Sara Nelson defeated Nikkita Oliver in the general election for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sara Nelson (Nonpartisan) | 53.9 | 139,336 | |
| Nikkita Oliver (Nonpartisan) | 46.0 | 119,025 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 363 | ||
| Total votes: 258,724 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large
The following candidates ran in the primary for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large on August 3, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nikkita Oliver (Nonpartisan) | 40.2 | 79,799 | |
| ✔ | Sara Nelson (Nonpartisan) | 39.5 | 78,388 | |
| Brianna Thomas (Nonpartisan) | 13.4 | 26,651 | ||
| Corey Eichner (Nonpartisan) | 3.5 | 7,030 | ||
| Lindsay McHaffie (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 3,048 | ||
| Rebecca Williamson (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 1,646 | ||
| Xtian Gunther (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 1,409 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 637 | ||
| Total votes: 198,608 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
The following candidates ran in the primary election for the Position 8 seat on the Seattle City Council.[3]
| Seattle City Council, Position 8 Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Teresa Mosqueda |
31.59% | 53,676 |
| Jon Grant |
26.87% | 45,652 |
| Sara Nelson | 21.48% | 36,495 |
| Rudy Pantoja | 5.12% | 8,704 |
| Sheley Secrest | 4.98% | 8,467 |
| Charlene Strong | 4.45% | 7,562 |
| Hisam Goueli | 3.18% | 5,407 |
| Mac McGregor | 2.03% | 3,444 |
| Write-in votes | 0.29% | 486 |
| Total Votes | 169,893 | |
| Source: King County, "2017 election results," accessed August 15, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2021
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released October 3, 2021 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sara Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I’m a lifelong Democrat and moved to Seattle in 1990 to get a PhD in Cultural Anthropology at UW. After teaching Anthropology and Women’s Studies courses for several years, I left academia to have a more direct positive impact on my community through public service and took a position as a City Council Legislative Aide for ten years where I helped pass landmark legislation to increase affordable housing, transit, and climate protections.
I met my husband at the WTO protests and we have two teen-aged sons. In 2009, we co-founded Fremont Brewing which is known for giving back to the community, providing extensive employee benefits, and leading the craft beer industry in sustainability. We were hit hard by the pandemic but we managed to retain our employees and increased wages to make up for lost tips.
I’m running because I believe Seattle has lost its way. Council’s extremist policies aren’t working, especially for our most vulnerable. I’ll bring the pragmatic, experienced leadership Seattle needs to get back on track.
Fun facts: I’m a card-carrying member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society and I love backpacking, foraging, and karaoke (despite being a horrible singer!).
Seattle's at a turning point and the stakes are high this election. Voters have a clear choice between more of the same extremist policies and empty rhetoric that have failed us or someone with pragmatic, progresive policy solutions to make Seattle safe and livable -- for everyone.
I'm focused on restoring trust in local government through accountable, transparent leadership.
- We can do better, Seattle!
What's going on in Seattle right now is a humanitarian and policy failure. We need to restructure our response to the homelessness crisis and put in place a model proven to work in other cities, centered on individualized case management enabled by a real-time “by-name” list of unsheltered individuals, a real-time menu of currently available housing options from which the individual can choose according to preference (allows children, partners, etc.) and acuity of needs, and a centralized portal available to all providers and city agencies. This will allow for better coordination among providers and City departments as well as continuity-of-care for individuals. Right now, there's zero coordination among providers and they don't track the kind of housing and services individuals need or have been offered already. The City of Seattle must also directly fund mental health and substance abuse treatment services, contract with those providers, and get individuals into that treatment. Right now, King County directs resources for these services and there’s not enough capacity to meet the need in Seattle. This isn’t rocket science and we don’t have to recreate the wheel. We just have to follow best practices and have the political will to do something different that actually works. Finally, we must ensure our parks are open and accessible to all.
One of my top priorities is getting back to Seattle government’s main job: delivering the basic services listed in our Charter: police, fire, parks, libraries, and transportation. Council has been dropping the ball on its oversight responsibility of these departments and has been inadequately funding basic services for years -- including our transportation infrastructure. The emergency closure of the West Seattle Bridge is just the most recent and dramatic example of City Council’s failure to ensure that our roads and bridges are well maintained and repaired in a timely fashion. There’s also the Magnolia Bridge which has been damaged since the Nisqually earthquake in 2001 as well as the Ballard, Fremont, University, and Spokane St. Bridges which are in urgent need of repair and seismic retrofits.
West Seattle has been a virtual island for two years now so if elected, I’ll find ways to speed up repair of the West Seattle Bridge. That will likely require more money than is currently allocated so I’d work with our Port, State, and federal partners to identify additional funds, starting with designating a significant amount of anticipated revenue from the new federal infrastructure bill to accelerated engineering.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY: Thousands of businesses have closed or moved out of Seattle. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs and Seattle’s working families are hurting as a result. Our neighborhood business districts are struggling, our downtown core is boarded up, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to achieve a long-term, equitable economic recovery.
PUBLIC SAFETY: Public safety is a central policy issue in my campaign because it lies at the heart of a well-functioning city and Seattle is failing on this front. I'm not in favor of defunding the police by an arbitrary percentage because it won’t reduce crime nor end systemic racism in policing. We need reform that keeps communities safe and holds officers accountable. In other words, we don’t need less policing, we need better policing based on a community policing model and recruiting officers from the neighborhoods they’ll serve.
HOMELESSNESS: What's going on right now is a humanitarian and policy failure. and encampments pose a public health risk. We need to restructure our response to the homelessness crisis and put in place a model proven to work in other cities. Right now, there's zero coordination among providers and they don't track the kind of housing and services individuals need or have been offered already. We must also directly fund mental health and substance abuse treatment services, contract with those providers, and get them treatment. Finally, we must ensure our parks are open and accessible to all.
Attention to detail, humility, and accountability.
Make public policy based on the core commitment of helping the most vulnerable among us and pass a budget that ensures Seattle is a safe and livable city for everyone.
I remember watching the moon landing when I was three years old. I remember my mom putting me on the couch in my yellow fuzzies in front of our black and white TV and I can still remember the images of people in space suits. I know it’s hard to believe remembering something so young but I guess my parents made such a big deal of the landing that it was seared onto my toddler brain.
The second and more formative memory I have is President Nixon resigning when I was eight. I asked my grandfather who was a Democratic activist in San Francisco if Ford would be a better president. He said very gravely, "Sara, anyone would be better than Nixon." And then he added, "Except Ronald Reagan." Reagan was then Governor of California and Grandfather branding him Bad Guy Number One framed my political sensibilities growing up. Imagine my shock when he actually became president! Little did we know things were going to get even worse...
Yes! My experience as a legislative Aide taught me that good policy is made by digging into the minutia of legislation, soliciting and incorporating input from stakeholders, and taking the time to get it right -- not rushing things through without adequate analysis and public input. This is the way to minimize unintended consequences and negative impacts. I also learned that any budget action has trade-offs. We have finite resources and we have to spend money wisely. Finally, constituent services matter. I’ll be representing real people living real lives and struggling with real challenges. So my responsibility will be to help solve problems and that means listening with humility and acting with intention and nuance. I’ll also respond to emails and requests for meetings promptly -- because that’s my job.
I’ll bring the missing, pragmatic perspective of a small business owner to City Council. That’s important because small businesses create jobs, drive innovation, and form the unique fabric of our neighborhood. They’re struggling right now and this Council isn’t acting with enough urgency to help them survive, thrive and retain jobs. I understand how difficult it is to start and grow a business in Seattle and I have concrete, detailed policy proposals to help our neighborhood business districts and our downtown core bounce back.
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Campaign website
Nelson's campaign website stated the following themes.
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CRISIS BRINGS OPPORTUNITY WE’VE GOT THE CHANCE FOR A MAJOR RESET IN THIS TOWN AND I’LL BRING THE PRACTICAL, EXPERIENCED LEADERSHIP NEEDED TO GET SEATTLE ON THE RIGHT TRACK Economic recovery is my top priority and it’s time for the voice of small business on City Council to support Seattle’s struggling small businesses and bring jobs back to the downtown core and neighborhood business districts. Delivering basic city services is the main job of local government and it’s time to refocus parks, libraries, transportation, police and fire instead of frittering away public resources on pet projects. Trust in government is at an all-time low and it’s time to elect leaders who will be held accountable for delivering measurable results. Economic Recovery Our city is facing an unprecedented economic challenge. The COVID pandemic has devastated both families and communities and exacerbated the longstanding challenges to starting and growing a small business in Seattle. As our city comes back to life, it’s crucial that we work together to ensure our economy prospers because our local businesses and workers are the heart of our city. Helping them must be an “all hands on deck” priority. For me it’s all about jobs and sustaining Seattle’s vibrancy and liveability. Here’s how I’ll help on City Council: 1. Bring a neighborhood business owner’s perspective Small businesses create jobs, spur innovation, and make up the fabric of our neighborhoods. But we’re struggling. Thousands of small businesses have closed and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs. Seattle’s working families are hurting but Council’s not taking meaningful action to help. There hasn’t been a small business owner on City Council since 2009 and I’ll bring that missing perspective. I know what small businesses need and I’ll advance effective policies to help them survive the pandemic and thrive.
2. Get Downtown Seattle back on the right track. We need a proactive and strategic plan to revive our downtown core which is the economic engine of our region and contributes 50% of the revenue needed to keep our city running. Unfortunately, for years, City Council has neglected to support downtown-area businesses and arts venues which have been devastated by COVID and rising rates of crime. Doing nothing isn’t an option anymore. As we bring workers back, it’s time to address the downtown crime crisis. I will also work to bring needed amenities to the neighborhood, including a downtown school, major grocers, and improved streetscapes and activated open spaces. 3. Plan for the long-term. Seattleites will soon return to work and school but achieving a long-term, strong, and equitable recovery will require significant investment and focused leadership. I’m talking workforce Significantly expanding city support of neighborhood business districts, expediting building permits and business licensing, and incentivizing green technologies. Most of all, we must lead with creativity and deliberation to build Seattle back better. Homelessness What’s going on in Seattle is more than a political failure – it’s also a humanitarian failure. Spending has doubled, but the number of people experiencing homelessness has skyrocketed. Our homeless neighbors are not a monolithic block, these are individuals with very specific needs. Unfortunately, the city has pursued one-sized-fits-all policies that ignore the realities on the ground. These policies have wasted more than tax dollars – they’ve wasted lives. We can do better. But first, we need to tackle several big challenges: The City must fundamentally restructure our response to the homelessness crisis and put in place a model proven to work in other cities.
This isn’t rocket science and we don’t have to recreate the wheel. We just have to have the political will do do something different that actually works. The City must ensure it’s funding truly effective social service organizations and programs, including enforcing the standards it already has. To tackle this difficult problem, Seattle should only partner with organizations with a proven track record of delivering results and implementing metrics to hold them to it. Unfortunately, the city has a poor record on both monitoring and accountability. Here are my promises to you:
In the short-term, we should address dangerous living situations with real alternatives. Unfortunately, it’s increasingly clear that encampments are a safety risk for both residents and surrounding neighborhoods. From exploitation and crimes committed against homeless residents, to property crime issues in surrounding neighborhoods, to health and hygiene issues, encampments are a problem – not a viable solution. Seattle owes it to all of our neighbors, housed and unhoused, to find another plan. Here’s what I believe:
In the longer-term, we need more permanent supportive housing and a coordinated regional approach. The truth is, Seattle can’t go at it alone. Most resources related to homelessness are at the county, state, and even federal level. I support working to strengthen those partnerships. Here’s what I will make sure that partnership entails:
The bottom line: We need to get folks out of tents and RVs. Unregulated encampments are unsafe and inhumane. As we address this crucial public health and public safety issue, it’s important to provide short-term and long-term alternatives for our homeless neighbors. I’ll make sure the city is working with the most effective partners and solutions. Our neighbors, housed and unhoused, deserve nothing less. Government Accountability If we want to make real progress, it’s time to address the way the city operates. I believe that government accountability means:
To make that happen, we need to make a few changes: 1. City Council needs to do a better job of bringing those affected by policies to the table. Seattle is a city full of incredible talent and resources – our neighborhood leaders, non-profits, local businesses, and residents all have something to offer. 2. I’ll oppose passing quick-fix legislation on big issues without proper input. Unfortunately, on issues like the head tax, City Council often leaps before it looks. 3. It’s time to stop throwing money at the implementation of the legislation without considering the negative trade-offs. Public Safety CALL TO ACTION ON GUN VIOLENCE, CRIME, AND SPD STAFFING POLICING: We need to reform the police in a manner that keeps communities safe and holds officers accountable for misconduct — and then fund accordingly. I support a balanced approach to improving the police that has earned me the support of leaders like Rev. Harriett Walden, Founder of Mothers for Police Accountability, and Victoria Beach, Chair of the African American Community Advisory Council. My opponent’s plan to abolish the police won’t improve public safety nor advance equity. But my plan to reform the police will.:
While I do not support abolishing the police, police reform is among my top priorities. Put simply, I believe that everyone who dials 911 has the right to a fast, effective, and fair response. The “fair” part is no less important than “fast” or “effective”. Seattle’s Police Department MUST do better. I’ll work hard from day one to ensure that happens. GUN VIOLENCE: In the first half of 2021, there were 230 gun assault cases, including 9 homicides – the highest number of incidents in a month since 1984. Clearly we’ve got an emergency on our hands and the only way to reduce gun violence is to treat it as the public health crisis that it is and direct all the resources and policy tools we can at preventing a continued escalation. My approach is simple: fund what’s working and invest in new strategies. But first, City Council needs to step up, speak out, show some heart to the families grieving the loss of a loved one, and most importantly, have the courage to lead on gun violence prevention.
SEATTLE FIRE DEPARTMENT: You know how when you call 911 because an elderly person collapsed and can’t get up and the paramedics come right away, take vitals, stabilize the person and then rush them to the emergency room? Or you smell gas in your apartment even though your oven’s off and a fire engine comes right away? Or when the lithium battery in your son’s remote-controlled truck starts the house on fire and you hear a siren moments later? Well, I do. I want to talk about the dispatchers, paramedics, firefighters, Health One units, and everyone else at SFD who respond to crises and put their lives on the line to keep us and our loved ones safe because they don’t get the attention or resources they deserve when we discuss public safety. Seattle’s tremendous growth over the past decade has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of emergency responses, but SFD’s staffing has remained relatively static. In fact, SFD has fewer firefighters than in previous years. On top of that, our homelessness crisis has dramatically increased the number and type of emergency responses, particularly incidents in encampments and abandoned buildings. And then came the pandemic and SFD stepped up to run the cities COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites. All of this has resulted in severe staffing and resources shortage – in personnel and equipment. The Seattle Fire Department is an overlooked but equally critical component of our public safety network. These first responders have come to my aid several times — and Seattle can do better by them. So, I will:
HOUSING Although we’re facing an urgent homelessness crisis, even more Seattleites are at-risk of displacement. Rent and home prices are so high that people across income levels – teachers, firefighters, students, blue-collar workers, retail employees -- find it increasingly difficult to find housing they can afford close to their workplace or even within Seattle. I want Seattle to be a city where my kids can afford to live, not just a playground for the ultra-rich. So, we need more affordable housing but, let’s face it, we won’t be able to subsidize our way out of our housing affordability crisis. What do do? 1. First we need to retail existing, naturally affordable rental units, over 50% of which are owned by small, mom-and-pop landlords. That means we need to be very careful about measures that make it difficult to rent and maintain their properties. Otherwise, they are forced to sell their properties, resulting in market-rate redevelopment. 2. Seattle needs to add new family-wage and market-rate housing. I support targeting new housing growth along frequent transit corridors and in urban centers and facilitating the creation of “missing middle” housing such as backyard cottages, duplexes, and townhomes. These housing options also create more paths to ownership because they are generally less expensive than high-rise residential units. 3. We should fast-track new affordable housing construction. Projects like the Third Door Coalition, which help implement land use and regulatory changes to reduce the cost of affordable units, are key to getting very-low-income and chronically-homeless individuals into stable housing. 4. We also need to think outside of the box on housing, like legislation requiring that the City have the option of purchasing for-sale multifamily properties in the City for use as affordable housing. I also support a proposal to allow religious organizations to create affordable housing units on their property. Housing is a complex issue with no silver bullet. But, together, we can make a real dent in our affordability crisis. Environment It’s time to put the environment, particularly climate protection, back on the City’s agenda as a top priority. I worked in Councilmember Richard Conlin’s office at a time when Seattle was on the cutting edge of environmental policy. He established the Office of Sustainability and Environment which established the Green Building code. I helped write and advance the legislation to eliminate plans for a third transfer station in Georgetown and mandate recycling and composting. There’s so much more the City must do to advance environmental justice, improve the water quality of our lakes, streams and the Puget Sound, and reduce our carbon footprint. There’s no time to waste and as a lifelong environmentalist, I will act with urgency to reprioritize our stewardship of our air, water, natural resources. Here are ways I’ll start: 1. Promote and incentivize scalable green technology and renewable energy solutions. Like biodigesters that turn solid waste into energy. Many small businesses like Fremont Brewing want to take sustainability to the next level but can’t afford the expense because these technologies are priced for larger companies. Incentives would grow the market for such technologies which would lower their cost , create jobs, and help protect our planet 2. Promote the use of Cross Laminated Timber. CLT uses a plentiful renewable resource, wood, to replace concrete in buildings and its production is far less carbon-intensive than producing concrete. Because it’s less expensive than concrete and steel, its use could jump start the construction of affordable housing. It is also more flexible than concrete so it’s better able to withstand damage from the inevitable Big One and smaller earthquakes. Finally, growing the market for CLT would spur the creation of a CLT production facility in Seattle, creating well-paying manufacturing jobs. 3. Refine and expand the Living Building Pilot project and make it a permanent tool to incentivize greener buildings. Living Buildings standards surpass even the highest level of LEED Buildings in energy and water conservation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and the use of environmentally friendly building materials. Most important, they are designed to change the behavior of the people in them so that workers and visitors use stairs more often and practice the values of conservation and climate protection in their daily lives. 4. Incentivize the inclusion of electric vehicle charging stations on private property. 5. Here in Seattle, we’re long on rain as my mother-in-law from Houston would say. We could be using more of that rain falling on our homes and buildings to water our plants and flush our toilets. I’ll expand the Rain Wise program that incentives homeowners and building owners to collect rainwater from roofs and I’ll strengthen Seattle Public Utilities water conservation incentive program to encourage incentive the use of grey water in buildings. 6. Work to finish the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman trail. This project has been in the works for over twenty years and it’s been litigated up the wazoo. We need to encourage more cycling along this corridor to reduce C02 emissions and promote health so let’s get this done already! 7. Speaking of multimodal, I’ll promote human-powered water transportation as a viable alternative mode of transport for people and goods. We’ve got a lot of waterfront and a lot of private boat docks and marinas but very few publicly accessible facilities to land and secure a kayak, canoe, stand-up paddle board or small sailboat. I also support nascent efforts for a passenger ferry line on Lake Union. Both of these ideas will help people get out of their cars for their commutes which will obviously benefit our air and water and giving people places to launch and moor a kayak for example will also increase recreational enjoyment of Seattle’s gorgeous waterways. Basic City Services Local government’s primary responsibility is to deliver basic services. It’s not sexy, but it impacts our daily lives perhaps more than anything else. Unfortunately, with our failing bridges, pot-holed roads, community centers in disrepair, inaccessible parks and open spaces, and communities that don’t feel safe, it looks like Council is asleep at the wheel. I’ll be committed to my job of overseeing and adequately funding core city services. After all, that’s what we pay for. I believe that local government should keep its promises and I’ll fight for the city to keep those promises. Enough said![4] |
” |
| —Sara Nelson's 2021 campaign website[5] | ||
2017
Nelson's campaign website listed the following themes for 2017:
| “ |
Affordability and Housing Crisis Protecting our Environment Protecting and Advancing our Small Businesses Homelessness |
” |
| —Sara Nelson (2017) | ||
See also
2021 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large |
Officeholder Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Sara Nelson, Ph.D," accessed July 7, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2021
- ↑ King County, Washington, "Who has filed: 2017 candidate filing," accessed May 19, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sara Nelson's 2021 campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 22, 2021
- ↑ Sara Nelson for City Council, "Issues," accessed June 22, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by M. Lorena González |
Seattle City Council, Position 9 — At-large 2022 – Present |
Succeeded by NA |
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State of Washington Olympia (capital) |
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