Teresa Mosqueda

Teresa Carmen Mosqueda (born July 4, 1980) is an American politician and labor activist from Seattle, Washington. She is a King County Council member and has represented District 8 since 2024. Mosqueda was a member of the Seattle City Council from 2017 to 2023, in at-large position 8.

Early life and career Mosqueda was born in Olympia, Washington, and is of third-generation Mexican descent on her father's side and Polish/Swedish/Norwegian on her mother's. She grew up in a middle-income, politically active household. Mosqueda frequently attended protests with her family, including the WTO protests.

After college, Mosqueda worked on health advocacy at nonprofit organizations, including Sea Mar, which assists Latino seniors with their medical insurance, and the Children's Alliance.

Seattle City Council Elections In 2017, Mosqueda ran for the open at-large District 8 position on the Seattle city council after incumbent Tim Burgess announced he would not seek reelection, later becoming interim mayor of Seattle.

In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Grant, 60% to 40%.

In 2021, Mosqueda announced that she would seek reelection and not run in the Mayor election. She faced ten challengers in the primary election, significantly outraising all of them and received more endorsements from elected leaders and labor unions. In the August primary election, Mosqueda came in first with 59% of the vote, and structural engineer Kenneth Wilson also advancing to the general with 16% of the vote. Mosqueda focused her campaign on addressing economic inequalities in Seattle, while Wilson focused on fixing major infrastructure like bridges.

In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Wilson in a landslide, 59% to 40%.

Tenure In her first year on council, Mosqueda passed legislation to protect domestic workers and voted no on repealing the controversial Seattle head tax, which was meant to build affordable housing and pay for homelessness services. During her first term she also led the push legislation that would give parents access to paid family leave care benefits after the death of a child and if a partner dies during childbirth. Mosqueda was the prime sponsor of the JumpStart tax, which is a payroll tax on large businesses and funds affordable housing and Green New Deal policies.

During the 2020 George Floyd protests, Mosqueda, as budget chair, called for a "full, thorough, simultaneous deep dive" into the Seattle Police budget. She also called for 50% cuts into the police budget and reinvest the money into the community.

Mosqueda remained budget chair in her second term during the 2023-24 budget process, with a $141 million deficit and an $82 million revenue shortfall. Mosqueda's budget proposal, which passed with amendments, included eliminating 80 vacant positions at SPD and not funding Mayor Bruce Harrell's policy proposals, like the Shotspotter program.

On January 2, 2024, Mosqueda resigned from the Seattle City Council after being elected to the King County Council.

King County Council In 2023, Mosqueda ran for the 8th district seat on the King County Council in 2023 following the retirement of incumbent Joe McDermott. In the August primary, she came in first against two other challengers and advanced to the general election with Burien mayor Sofia Aragon. Mosqueda and Aragon clashed on public safety, with Mosqueda defending her support of reducing the SPD budget and Aragon defending Burien's camping ban. In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Aragon, 55% to 44%.

Mosqueda joined the county council on January 9 as one of its first Latino American members alongside Jorge Barón.

Personal life Mosqueda is married to Associated Press journalist Manuel Valdes. She lived in an apartment in the Queen Anne neighborhood until buying a townhouse in early 2019 in North Delridge. In April 2019 it was announced Mosqueda was the first sitting Seattle city councilmember to be pregnant, and she gave birth to a baby girl in October 2019.

Electoral history