For our first endorsement of the 2026 cycle, The Urbanist Elections Committee endorses Claudia Balducci for King County Council. A seasoned and hard-working policymaker, Claudia Balducci leads with strong urbanist values, and we heartily recommend retaining her.
First elected to the county council in 2015, Balducci is seeking her fourth term representing District 6. The reason her most recent term was only three years, rather than the usual four, was because of a reform to even-year elections for county offices that she led the way in championing. It’s rare to see a politician who is willing to push to give themself a shorter tenure in office. But that’s exactly what she did, in order to reap the benefits of higher-turnout even-year elections that offer a more representative electorate, less skewed toward wealthy homeowners.
This committee does not issue early endorsements lightly. In most cases, we’d like to see the full extent of our options before finalizing our choice. Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck has been the only leader to win that honor in recent memory. Balducci similarly distinguished herself as being on the vanguard of urbanist policy wins.
Our wide-ranging interview tackled her priorities, affordable housing, homelessness responses, and passion projects. And of course, Balducci dug deep into transit. She thoughtfully explored the funding challenges the Sound Transit Board is facing and demonstrated the creativity and curiosity that will be necessary to keep our region moving toward our transit goals in the face of budget shortfalls.
On housing, she emphasized the need for greater public funding for very low-income housing, serving residents earning below 50% of area median income. We appreciate her clear desire to see through the cycle of implementation on a variety of issues, not stopping at putting policies in place, but evaluating their impact, making adjustments, or changing course.
That’s why Balducci has been an outspoken advocate for aggressively expanding homeless shelter capacity, not just sweeping the problem from one neighborhood to another. As a Bellevue City Councilmember she fought to site and eventually open the city’s first men’s shelter, which was a long battle. She understands the importance of a “housing first” approach and adding wrap-around services to help get people back on their feet.
Balducci shared with us a recent push to learn more about water quality, which she said came from a gap she’d felt in her own knowledge – after being handed the hot potato that is chairing the council’s Regional Water Quality Committee. It’s clear her investment has paid off – she demonstrated a command of the issues from stormwater to salmon to wastewater treatments and the looming rate increases that will add to the affordability crisis for residents. She’s already looking ahead to solutions.
Tackling tough subjects and following through with hard work is classic Balducci and one of the reasons we’ve been proud to endorse her through the years. She’s versed in the deep details of so many issues and still looking for opportunities to learn more.
Transit is an area where Balducci has always shined. We were surprised the Sound Transit Board ousted her as chair of the Systems Expansion Committee and isn’t leaning more on her experience. But, even so, we expect her to continue her push for the best ways to move the agency’s expansion plans forward. Her creativity and tenacity has been an indispensable part of the important course corrections the agency is making to deliver Sound Transit 2 and 3 as promised to voters with minimal delays – and hopefully sidestepping a descent into parochial infighting.
Balducci was key in ensuring the 2 Line opened as a “starter line” on the Eastside while the agency worked to correct construction defects on the I-90 floating bridge segment. That ensured riders got an extra two years of use out of those Eastside stations, which beat ridership projections, demonstrating how hotly anticipated the crosslake connection will be when it opens on March 28.
Similarly, Balducci has been the County’s foremost leader on boosting King County Metro funding and getting on course to restore and expand pre-pandemic service levels and ensure most residents have access to at least one frequent bus line. Ultimately, she could not win over her colleagues to place a countywide transit measure on the ballot in 2026, but we have no doubt she will raise the banner again and see through a countywide transit boost.
Balducci is the kind of leader we look to in tough times. She’s excited to tackle the thorniest, most complex issues facing the county and we’re excited to see what she’ll do with another term.
Ryan Packer
