Rob Saka

Rob Saka (born January 21, 1983) is an American lawyer and politician elected to represent District 1 of the Seattle City Council, which encompasses all of West Seattle.

Biography

Saka was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and grew up in the foster care system before his Nigerian immigrant father "rescued" him and began raising him as a single father. He grew up in with financial hardships, living in public and low-income housing.

Before his city council run, Saka was appointed to several city and county commissions, including the King County Charter Review Commission, the King County Redistricting Commission, and a Seattle Police Chief search committee.

Seattle city council

Election In February 2023, Saka announced that he would stand for the city council, replacing Lisa Herbold who declined to run for re-election. He said that his campaign aligned more with District 1, compared to Herbold's progressive policies. Former Amazon worker and climate activist Maren Costa coming in first, with 33%. Costa was fired from Amazon in 2020 after publicly urging the company to do more to combat climate change and improve conditions for warehouse workers. After the primary, the six other candidates endorsed Costa over Saka despite wide policy differences, saying "She has experience fighting for justice and a better world".

Saka and Costa had some similar policy proposals regarding public safety and hiring more police. However, Saka accused Costa of flip-flopping on "defunding the police" when she stated her support for hiring additional police. Costa did not support legislation passed by the city council to prosecute low-level drug offenses, while Saka urged the council to pass the legislation, calling it a "powerful tool".

Tenure

Once sworn in, Saka became chair of the Transportation Committee, stating he became the "king of potholes". As chair, Saka proposed a $1.55 billion transportation levy, larger than the $1.35 billion levy proposed by Harrell, which would add an average of $41 for taxpayers. Saka added in additional projects, including sidewalks, safe routes to schools, and safety on public transit, electric charging stations, a freight program, and a ‘district project fund.’

While on the council, Saka supported hiring additional police, stating, "The public safety challenges that we're experiencing today are a shameful legacy of the defund the police movement. And that was wrong then. It's wrong now. Defund is Dead." As a member of the Council's Public Safety Committee, he voted for a bill that would repeal the city's ban on police use of blast balls for crowd control. During an earlier visit to a firing range where he saw a blast ball demonstrated, he asked to have a blast ball used on him directly, saying “I made the request, and the executive declined my request.” Saka compared the 8-inch tall median to President Donald Trump's attempts to build border walls on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Saka's May 2025 approval rating was negative, with 13% approving of his job performance, 40% disapproving, and 47% unsure.

In July 2025, during the appointment process to fill the vacant position after Cathy Moore, finalist Nilu Jenks said that no one on the City Council had "lived experience from Asian, refugee, Muslim or Middle Eastern communities." Saka said that the Council had immigrant and Muslim represenatation on because he was the son of a immigrant and the grandson of a Muslim.

Personal life

Saka resides in the Delridge neighborhood with his wife and three children.