Elections Committee

The Urbanist strives to inform and enlighten our readers with coverage and endorsements of important local races. Beginning in 2015 with coverage of nine open seats in the Seattle City Council, we have since expanded our efforts to include the Seattle Mayor, Port of Seattle Commission, King County Council, school board, and state legislative races in addition to other local and state ballot measures. In 2023, we added Bellevue City Council races, and in 2024, we added Pierce County Council and Executive races.

You can read our 2024 General endorsements here.

A core commitment throughout this process is transparency. We aim to share information with our readers so they understand and trust our process and so they can make an informed decision for themselves. To that end, we hope to share with our readers the process behind our endorsements. Comprised of volunteer community members, the Elections Committee is charged with executing endorsements on behalf of The Urbanist.

The Elections Committee

Current Membership

The glass towers of the Seattle skyline peaks over the shoulders of the group. — The Urbanist Elections Committee 2024 membership. Back row left to right: Hannah Sabio-Howell, Kelsey Vanhee, Angela Compton, Ryan Packer. Front row: Doug Trumm, Kacie Masten, Anita Yandle, Maya Ramakrishnan, and Jazmine Smith. (Credit: Hannah Sabio-Howell)

Hannah Sabio-Howell: Hannah (she/her) is the chair of The Urbanist Elections Committee and Communications Director at Working Washington, a statewide labor advocacy and legal nonprofit that supports workers in the fight for better pay and workplace standards. In addition to her volunteer work with The Urbanist, Hannah sits on the Pro-Choice Washington PAC Board. She is also a photographer and cyclist who sometimes unwisely attempts both at the same time (bike rides anywhere in Washington state are too beautiful to not).
Jazmine Smith: Jazmine (she/her) is the Vice Chair of the The Urbanist Elections Committee and a political hack/policy wonk who won’t shut up about niche local and statewide politics, bikes, bus lanes, and building more housing. She has been serving on the Queen Anne Community Council as a board member and formerly Transportation Co-Chair, and serves on the Uptown Land Use Review Committee. She’s an ardent renter in Lower Queen Anne and e-bikes around town when she doesn’t just take the bus/train. Jazmine loves being an organizer and will relationally organize YOU into caring about things.
Doug Trumm: Doug (he/him) is the publisher at The Urbanist, and has been a full-time employee since 2020 and a volunteer contributor since 2015. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at UW in 2019. He lives in East Fremont/West Wallingford and loves to explore the city on his bike. You’ll often find him daydreaming about pedestrianizing streets, blanketing the city in bus lanes, and building a great abundance of housing.
Ryan Packer: Ryan (they/them) has been a contributing editor at The Urbanist since 2016, and full-time in that role since 2024. Their beats are Vision Zero, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, bikeshare, and public space. When not at a bicycle advisory board meeting, they’re probably at a play at one of Seattle’s amazing theater companies.
Maya Ramakrishnan: Maya (she/her) is an appellate public defender and e-bike commuter who believes cities can be for all of us. You can often find Maya jogging in Seattle parks.
Kacie Masten: Kacie (she/they) is a high school English teacher in Pierce County. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College with her Master’s in Teaching, as well as Pacific Lutheran University with a BA in sociology. She currently lives in Tacoma’s Eastside neighborhood with her partner Kevin and their two pets, Frankie and Blossom.
Kelsey Vanhee: Kelsey (she/her) is a lifelong Washingtonian, campaign volunteer, mutual aid organizer, and activist focused on Burien politics. She lives in Boulevard Park with her husband and four cats and spends too much time on Twitter.
Anita Yandle: Anita (she/they) is a public interest attorney and former public interest lobbyist who lives in South Seattle. Anita’s current practice focuses on reproductive freedom. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School and the University of Washington.
Angela Compton: Angela Compton (she/her) is a peace educator who lives in Tacoma and works for King County Metro Transit. She has a background in housing, transportation, and environmental advocacy and policy and is currently serving as Vice President of the Board for Futurewise. She’s an avid backpacker, loves to bake muffins, and has been car free since 2016.

The Process

Primary Elections

The endorsement process begins in April, four months before the primary election in August. The first step is to select races for endorsement. Races are selected which are local and relevant to the policy areas of the organization (e.g., housing, transportation, and land use).

The Elections Committee is then charged with selecting candidates to pursue for an interview using criteria such as: general viability, having a reasonable platform, community presence, relevant experience, web presence, endorsements, and affiliation with underrepresented communities.

In May, selected candidates are provided with a required and standardized questionnaire and (usually) an invitation for an interview with the Elections Committee in June. The standard nature allows a fair comparison on equal footing for all candidates. Candidates who do not complete their questionnaire are ineligible for endorsement. Questionnaires are published verbatim for our readers and assessed by the Elections Committee.

Interview are typically held in mid-June, allowing the Elections Committee to engage directly with the candidates for follow-up questions. Each year, the Elections Committee considers the question of whether to release a record of these interviews. In most cycles, the Elections Committee has decided not to release a record in the interest of fostering a more intimate dialogue with candidates to better and more deeply assess their positions without the filter that public-facing forums may impose.

After interviewing each candidate, the Elections Committee meets to vote on endorsements. The process allows for the endorsement of no, one, or multiple candidates in each race, though selecting a single candidate is preferred.

Members of the Elections Committee collaboratively summarize the endorsement reasoning in an article published before ballots are mailed out.

General Elections

When primary election results are finalized, the Elections Committee meets to decide if any new research is required. For example, if a candidates who was not selected for consideration makes it through to the general election, or if an endorsed candidate does not make it through, the committee may decide to hold additional interviews.

After conducting any additional research, the Elections Committee meets to vote on general election endorsements, and the results are published by early October.

The Elections Committee evaluates the endorsement process each cycle to improve the experience for candidates, volunteers, and most importantly our readers. For feedback or questions about the endorsement process, please feel free to contact the Elections Committee at elections [at] theurbanist [dot] org.

Conflicts of Interest

We do not solicit nor accept donations from candidates. We do not, as an organization, campaign for candidates, such as hosting fundraising parties or recruiting volunteers. Our members are often politically engaged and thus may be involved in either a volunteer or professional capacity with campaigns. We have a strict conflict of interest policy and expect any member to recuse themselves when a conflict of interest is present (e.g., when a member is a paid staff member of a campaign).

Past Endorsements

2024 Endorsements

Read our 2024 Primary endorsements.

The 2024 elections committee consists of Angela Compton, Kacie Masten, Ryan Packer, Maya Ramakrishnan, Hannah Sabio-Howell, Jazmine Smith, Doug Trumm, Kelsey Vanhee, and Anita Yandle.

2023 Endorsements

Read our 2023 Primary endorsements and 2023 General endorsements.

The 2023 elections committee consisted of Ryan Packer, Maya Ramakrishnan, Christopher Randels, Hannah Sabio-Howell, Jazmine Smith, Doug Trumm, Rian Watt, and Anita Yandle.

2022 Endorsements

Read our 2022 Primary endorsements and our 2022 General endorsements.

The 2022 elections committee consisted of Lizzy Jessup, Ryan Packer, Hannah Sabio-Howell, Jazmine Smith, Doug Trumm, Rian Watt, and Anita Yandle. Smith recused herself from voting on state legislative races due to a work conflict.

2021 Endorsements

Read our 2021 Primary endorsements and our General Election endorsements are here.

The 2021 elections committee consisted of Hayley Bonsteel, Lizzy Jessup, Ryan Packer, Maya Ramakrishnan, Jazmine Smith, Doug Trumm, Rian Watt, and Frances Wolfe.

2020 General Endorsements

Check out our endorsement writeup here.