A veteran of the Seattle City Council who was there when City Hall made the transition to district-base representation is a finalist to fill the gap leading North Seattle’s District 5.

Former member of the council Debora Juarez has been selected as one of six finalists to hold the seat until the 2026 election following the resignation of Cathy Moore.

The six will take part in an appointment forum Monday night then the council will meet on July 22 to interview the finalists. A vote on the appointment is scheduled to take place on July 28th. The successful candidate will need to gather a simple majority of five votes from the council.

This is the second district appointment process of the year for the council. South Seattle rep Tammy Morales resigned to start 2025 with complaints that the council was a toxic workplace under president Sara Nelson.

Lawyer and former D5 rep Juarez is seen as a likely choice for the council, giving the body a representative familiar with the job and the district. The council later selected SPD community crime coordinator Mark Solomon to take over the District 2 seat.

Juarez joined the first district-based council after election in 2016. Six years later, she was part of a ripple of council incumbents opting not to run to keep their seats after a contentious term that included COVID-19, the 2020 protests, and withering attacks from District 3 representative Kshama Sawant. Sawant and Juarez were frequent sparring partners as the socialist council member frequently attacked Juarez’s centrist positions and more conservative legislative efforts.

The D5 process is the latest in a run of appointments to fill the council’s gaps in recent years. This time around, Moore said she was resigning her seat due to “health and personal reasons.”

Moore, a former King County Superior Court judge, was elected in 2023 with a centrist approach to policy and promises of what she said would be a more civil approach to Seattle politics.

CHS reported here on Moore’s decision to withdraw her proposed legislation championed by Council President Sara Nelson that would have allowed members to vote on bills in which they have a disclosed conflict of interest.

Her resignation was announced a few days later.

The D5 seat will go back up for election in 2026. Juarez says she feels “called” to lead her district in the meantime,

“I am ready to step in immediately and work alongside my fellow Councilmembers to ensure that our city remains a vibrant, welcoming, and innovative place for all residents. I would be honored to bring my ‘Elder Auntie’ experience, wisdom gained with no regrets, and vision to this important role once again, this time as a caretaker of the seat until a new Councilmember can be elected,” she writes.

You can learn more about the D5 finalists and Monday night’s forum here.

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