Lorena González (Seattle politician)

Maria Lorena González (born February 20, 1977) is an American lawyer and former politician who was a member of the Seattle City Council from position 9. She was the first Latino elected to the council.[1] She was a candidate for mayor of Seattle in 2021 but was defeated by Bruce Harrell 59 percent to 41 percent.

Lorena González
President of the Seattle City Council
In office
January 6, 2020 – January 1, 2022
Preceded byBruce Harrell
Succeeded byDebora Juarez
Member of the Seattle City Council
for Position 9
In office
November 24, 2015 – January 1, 2022
Preceded byJohn Okamoto
Succeeded bySara Nelson
Personal details
Born
Maria Lorena González

(1977-02-20) February 20, 1977
Prosser, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children1
EducationYakima Valley College
Washington State University (BA)
Seattle University (JD)
WebsiteCampaign website

Early life and education

González was born on February 20, 1977, in Prosser, Washington and raised in Grandview.[2][3] She has five siblings.[4] Her parents came to the United States as undocumented immigrants in the early-1960s and became legal permanent residents in the 1970s. Her mother became a citizen in 1996.[5] She described her early life as a "Spanish-speaking migrant farmworker household."[6] González was crowned Grandview Miss Junior in 1994.[3]

González attended Yakima Valley College at the Grandview Campus and earned a degree in business from Washington State University in 1999.[3] During this time, she says she worked three jobs and relied on assistance from scholarships to pay for her education.[7] She moved to Seattle in 2002 and began attending the Seattle University School of Law, earning her Juris Doctor in 2005.[4][6]

Career

After graduating from law school, González became an attorney at Gordon Thomas Honeywell.[8] In 2012, she represented a Latino man in a civil rights case against the city of Seattle for discriminatory police conduct. Her client received a $150,000 settlement, but she told The Seattle Times that the Seattle Police Department seemed incapable of admitting that the incident was an example of biased policing.[9] In 2014, she became legal counsel to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.[6]

Seattle City Council

In 2015, González ran for the ninth position on the Seattle City Council after Sally J. Clark dropped her reelection bid for one of the two remaining at-large seats on the council.[6] González won the election with more than 78% of the vote,[10] and replaced John Okamoto, who was temporarily on the council after Clark resigned to take a job at the University of Washington. González was the first Latina to be elected to the council.[1] In 2017, González was reelected to office with more than 70% of the vote.[11]

González was selected as the Council President in January 2020, succeeding Bruce Harrell.[12]

González was a supporter of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.[13]

2020 attorney general campaign
Main article: 2020 Washington elections

On August 8, 2019, González announced her intention to run for state attorney general in the 2020, to replace Bob Ferguson who was expected to run for governor.[14] She also announced her intention to remain a member of the Seattle City Council during the campaign.[15] On August 22, 2019, González suspended her campaign following Ferguson's decision to run for re-election after Jay Inslee announced he was running for a third term as governor.[16]

2021 Seattle mayoral election
Main article: 2021 Seattle mayoral election

In February 2020, González announced her candidacy for the 2021 Seattle mayoral election.[17] She came in a close second in the top-two primary, trailing Bruce Harrell by less than four thousand votes but was defeated in the November general election by Bruce Harrell, by a margin of 59% to 41%.[18]

Personal life

González has lived in Seattle since 2002 as a resident of the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Ballard, South Park, and White Center neighborhoods.[4] Lorena currently resides in West Seattle's Alaska Junction.[6][19] She married her husband in November 2017 and they have a daughter.[20][21][22]

Electoral history

2015 election
Seattle City Council Position 9, Primary Election 2015[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan M. Lorena González 77,839 65.02%
Nonpartisan Bill Bradburd 17,895 14.95%
Nonpartisan Alon Bassok 10,946 9.14%
Nonpartisan Thomas A. Tobin 9,361 7.82%
Nonpartisan Omari Tahir-Garrett 1,854 1.55%
Nonpartisan Alex Tsimerman 1,470 1.23%
Nonpartisan Write-in 344 0.29%
Turnout 126,012 30.41%
Registered electors 414,340
Seattle City Council Position 9, General Election 2015[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan M. Lorena González 128,588 78.06%
Nonpartisan Bill Bradburd 35,293 21.43%
Nonpartisan Write-in 844 0.51%
Majority 93,293 56.63%
Turnout 191,267 45.62%
Registered electors 419,292

2017 election
Seattle City Council Position 9, Primary Election 2017[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan M. Lorena González 108,602 64.17%
Nonpartisan Pat Murakami 33,349 19.71%
Nonpartisan David Preston 14,503 8.57%
Nonpartisan Pauly Giuglianotti 3,782 2.23%
Nonpartisan Eric W. Smiley 3,069 1.81%
Nonpartisan Ian Affleck-Asch 2,585 1.53%
Nonpartisan Ty Pethe 2,574 1.52%
Nonpartisan Write-in 768 0.45%
Turnout 187,741 40.49%
Registered electors 463,660
Seattle City Council Position 9, General Election 2017[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan M. Lorena González 143,839 70.75%
Nonpartisan Pat Murakami 58,700 28.87%
Nonpartisan Write-in 779 0.38%
Majority 85,139 41.88%
Turnout 224,808 49.21%
Registered electors 456,871

References
  1. Groover, Heidi (November 24, 2015). "Lorena González, the First Latino Ever Elected to the Seattle City Council, Will Be Sworn In Today". The Stranger. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  2. M Lorena Gonzalez [@MLorenaGonzalez] (Feb 20, 2021). "Today is Lorena's BIRTHDAY!" (Tweet). Retrieved Feb 20, 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. Klepach, Scott. "Community: Up-and-Coming Professionals: Seattle Attorney Lorena Gonzalez". Tú Decides. Tú Decides Media. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  4. "About Councilmember Lorena González". Seattle City Council Website. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. "Seattle University honors Lorena Gonzalez '05 with Community Service Award : Seattle University School of Law : Seattle Washington". law.seattleu.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  6. Beekman, Daniel (February 18, 2015). "Seattle mayor's legal counsel announces bid for City Council". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  7. "Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez: 2018 We Choose All of Us Annual Conference". wechooseallofus.sched.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  8. "People on the Move". seattlepi.com. 2005-12-12. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  9. "SPD lawsuit over racial slur settled for $150K". Seattle Times. June 27, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  10. "Election Results General and Special Election". King County Elections. November 24, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  11. "King County November 7, 2017 General Election". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  12. Graham (January 7, 2020). "New Seattle City Council Sworn in with Calls for New Progressive Taxes". The Stranger. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  13. "Bernie 2020 Rolls Out Washington Co-Chairs and Slate of Endorsements". March 7, 2020. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  14. "Seattle Councilmember Lorena González announces bid for state attorney general". King5 News. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  15. "Seattle City Councilmember Lorena González: Why I'm running for attorney general of Washington state". KUOW. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  16. "Seattle councilmember suspends campaign for state AG". King5 News. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  17. "Lorena González joins race for Seattle mayor". www.kuow.org. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  18. "Election Results – November 02, 2021" (PDF). King County Elections. November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  19. Record, Tracy (November 15, 2016). "Hala Rezoning: What tonight's Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting heard, said, and asked". West Seattle Blog. Retrieved February 24, 2019. at-large Councilmember Lorena González, who lives in The Junction
  20. @MLorenaGonzalez (January 8, 2018). "Celebrating the inauguration with some quality time and lots of love with my husband, Cameron" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. Norimine, Hayat (September 18, 2017). "Bagshaw Apologizes to González for Comments on Friday". SeattleMet. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  22. "Seattle City Council President Lorena González gives birth to first child".
  23. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 17, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  24. "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  25. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 15, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  26. "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. November 27, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
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