Election 2025: King County Executive candidates debate

We’re talking about the future of a big job today: King County Executive.Whichever candidate is elected to this position will oversee the sheriff’s department, manage public health, transportation, public housing, and jails… according to the King County website, they’ll lead one of the largest regional governments in the United States. The last time we had an open race for King County Executive, Barack Obama was about to become President. And everyone was talking about some new Washington-based movie called “Twilight.” Today, two county leaders are vying for the job. Guests: Claudia Balducci is a member of the King County Council. She represents District 6, which includes Bellevue, Mercer Island, and Redmond. She is an attorney who previously served as Mayor of Bellevue, she was a Bellevue city council member, and Director of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention for King County. Girmay Zahilay is chair of the King County Council, representing District 2, which includes Skyway, Allentown, and the University District. He’s also an attorney and founded the non-profit Rising Leaders, which offers mentorship and leadership training for middle school students. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.