- The odds were not forever in his favor.
Alex Pedersen—a former aide to Council President Tim Burgess, a Seattle Times advertiser, and a potential tribute from the 4th District—is out of this year’s council races.
As Publicola reported earlier this week, Pedersen won’t run because he wants to spend more time with his kids and “stay focused on the complex issue of affordable housing.”
Pedersen was coy when he left work in Burgess’s council office in November, even as lots of people speculated he would run. “I look forward to learning even more that I can bring back to public service,” he told his coworkers when he left. Then he created a website and ran his newsletter as an ad in the Times, but promised he wouldn’t run against Council Member Jean Godden, who lives in the 4th District. (Which covers a chunk of the city in the northeast including the U-District, Wallingford, Ravenna, and Wedgwood.)
There has been a lot of speculation that Godden might retire before facing reelection. But as of today, Godden is running in the 4th and so are a trio of dudes: parks activist Michael Maddux, transportation advocate Rob Johnson, and UW study abroad program director Taso Lagos. (Maddux, too, hinted that he didn’t want to run against Godden, but he did it anyway.)
One more thing while we’re checking in on the latest news from the districts: What is going on with the eerily quiet, candidate-free 6th? Friends/Council Members Nick Licata and Mike O’Brien both live in the district, and Licata has said if he runs it’ll be citywide. But so far neither of them has filed for anything.
