Teresa Mosqueda
Member of theKing County Council for the 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2024
Preceded by	Joe McDermott
Member of theSeattle City Council for the 8th district
In office November 28, 2017 – January 2, 2024
Preceded by	Kirsten Harris-Talley
Succeeded by	Tanya Woo
Personal details
Born	Teresa Carmen Mosqueda (1980-07-04)July 4, 1980 (age 45) Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Manuel Valdes
Children	1
Residence	Delridge, Seattle
Alma mater	University of Washington (BA) Evergreen State College (MPA)

Teresa Carmen Mosqueda (born July 4, 1980) is an American politician and labor activist fromSeattle, Washington. She is aKing County Council member and has represented District 8 since 2024. Mosqueda was a member of theSeattle City Council from 2017 to 2023, in at-large position 8.^[1]

Mosqueda was born inOlympia, Washington, and is of third-generation Mexican descent on her father's side and Polish/Swedish/Norwegian on her mother's.^[2][3] She grew up in a middle-income, politically active household.^[4] Mosqueda frequently attended protests with her family, including theWTO protests.^[2] Mosqueda attended theUniversity of Washington and earned aMaster of Public Administration fromEvergreen State College.^[5]

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.^[2][5] She also worked on health policy at theWashington State Department of Health and a health care specialist at the Community Health Plan of Washington.^[4][5] Mosqueda then became the political campaign director for theWashington State Labor Council,AFL-CIO and sat on the Health Benefit Exchange Board.^[2][4] In November 2013, she was the only member of the Exchange who voted against increasing the salary of the health exchange'sCEO by 13%.^[6]

In 2017, Mosqueda ran for the open at-large District 8 position on the Seattle city council after incumbentTim Burgess announced he would not seek reelection, later becoming interim mayor of Seattle.^[4] In the August primary, she came in first against seven other challengers, earning 31% of the vote, with affordable housing activist Jon Grant also advancing to the general with 26%.^[7][8] Both Mosqueda and Grant ran as progressives, with Mosqueda running as an "insider" and was endorsed by labor unions and the Young Democrats of King County, while Grant was running as an "outsider" and endorsed by theDemocratic Socialists of America and Socialist city council memberKshama Sawant.^[9]

In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Grant, 60% to 40%.^[10] She immediately took office once the election was certified due to the vacancy left by Burgess.^[11]

In 2021, Mosqueda announced that she would seek reelection and not run in the Mayor election.^[12] She faced ten challengers in the primary election, significantly outraising all of them and received more endorsements from elected leaders and labor unions.^[13] 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.^[14][15] Mosqueda focused her campaign on addressing economic inequalities in Seattle, while Wilson focused on fixing major infrastructure like bridges.^[16]

In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Wilson in a landslide, 59% to 40%.^[17]

In her first year on council, Mosqueda passed legislation to protect domestic workers and voted no on repealing the controversialSeattle head tax, which was meant to build affordable housing and pay for homelessness services.^[18] 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.^[19] Mosqueda was the prime sponsor of the JumpStart tax, which is a payroll tax on large businesses and funds affordable housing andGreen New Deal policies.^[20]

During the 2020George Floyd protests, Mosqueda, as budget chair, called for a "full, thorough, simultaneous deep dive" into the Seattle Police budget.^[21] She also called for 50% cuts into the police budget and reinvest the money into the community.^[21] At the end of 2020, Mosqueda and the majority of the council blocked MayorJenny Durkan proposal to increase the SPD budget to cover overtime costs and voted to ensure "out-of-order" layoffs happen in the department.^[22]

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.^[23] 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.^[24][25]

On January 2, 2024, Mosqueda resigned from the Seattle City Council after being elected to the King County Council.^[26]

In 2023, Mosqueda ran for the 8th district seat on theKing County Council in 2023 following the retirement of incumbentJoe McDermott.^[27] In the August primary, she came in first against two other challengers and advanced to the general election withBurien mayor Sofia Aragon.^[28][29] Mosqueda and Aragon clashed on public safety, with Mosqueda defending her support of reducing the SPD budget and Aragon defending Burien's camping ban.^[30] In the November general election, Mosqueda defeated Aragon, 55% to 44%.^[31][32]

Mosqueda joined the county council on January 9 as one of its first Latino American members alongsideJorge Barón.^[33]

Mosqueda is married toAssociated Press journalist Manuel Valdes.^[34] She lived in an apartment in theQueen Anne neighborhood until buying a townhouse in early 2019 inNorth Delridge.^[35][34][36] 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.^[34][37]

• Official page forKing County Council
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