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American politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Lorena González (born February 20, 1977) is an American lawyer and former politician who was a member of the Seattle City Council from position 9. She was the first Latino elected to the council.[1] She was a candidate for mayor of Seattle in 2021 but was defeated by Bruce Harrell 59 percent to 41 percent.
Lorena González | |
|---|---|
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| President of the Seattle City Council | |
| In office January 6, 2020 – January 1, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce Harrell |
| Succeeded by | Debora Juarez |
| Member of the Seattle City Council for Position 9 | |
| In office November 24, 2015 – January 1, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | John Okamoto |
| Succeeded by | Sara Nelson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Maria Lorena González February 20, 1977 Prosser, Washington, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Yakima Valley College Washington State University (BA) Seattle University (JD) |
| Website | Campaign website |
González was born on February 20, 1977, in Prosser, Washington and raised in Grandview.[2][3] She has five siblings.[4] Her parents came to the United States as undocumented immigrants in the early-1960s and became legal permanent residents in the 1970s. Her mother became a citizen in 1996.[5] She described her early life as a "Spanish-speaking migrant farmworker household."[6] González was crowned Grandview Miss Junior in 1994.[3]
González attended Yakima Valley College at the Grandview Campus and earned a degree in business from Washington State University in 1999.[3] During this time, she says she worked three jobs and relied on assistance from scholarships to pay for her education.[7] She moved to Seattle in 2002 and began attending the Seattle University School of Law, earning her Juris Doctor in 2005.[4][6]
After graduating from law school, González worked for a short time as an attorney at Gordon Thomas Honeywell and then for seven years with the law firm of Schroeter, Goldmark, and Bender.[8][9] In 2012, she represented a Latino man in a civil rights case against the city of Seattle for discriminatory police conduct. Her client received a $150,000 settlement, but she told The Seattle Times that the Seattle Police Department seemed incapable of admitting that the incident was an example of biased policing.[10] In 2014, she became legal counsel to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.[6]
In 2015, González ran for the ninth position on the Seattle City Council after Sally J. Clark dropped her reelection bid for one of the two remaining at-large seats on the council.[6] González won the election with more than 78% of the vote,[11] and replaced John Okamoto, who was temporarily on the council after Clark resigned to take a job at the University of Washington. González was the first Latina to be elected to the council.[1] In 2017, González was reelected to office with more than 70% of the vote.[12]
González was selected as the Council President in January 2020, succeeding Bruce Harrell.[13]
González was a supporter of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.[14]
On August 8, 2019, González announced her intention to run for state attorney general in the 2020, to replace Bob Ferguson who was expected to run for governor.[15] She also announced her intention to remain a member of the Seattle City Council during the campaign.[16] On August 22, 2019, González suspended her campaign following Ferguson's decision to run for re-election after Jay Inslee announced he was running for a third term as governor.[17]
In February 2020, González announced her candidacy for the 2021 Seattle mayoral election.[18] She came in a close second in the top-two primary, trailing Bruce Harrell by less than four thousand votes but was defeated in the November general election by Bruce Harrell, by a margin of 59% to 41%.[19]
González has lived in Seattle since 2002 as a resident of the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Ballard, South Park, and White Center neighborhoods.[4] Lorena currently resides in West Seattle's Alaska Junction.[6][20] She married her husband in November 2017 and they have a daughter.[21][22][23]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | M. Lorena González | 77,839 | 65.02% | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Bradburd | 17,895 | 14.95% | |
| Nonpartisan | Alon Bassok | 10,946 | 9.14% | |
| Nonpartisan | Thomas A. Tobin | 9,361 | 7.82% | |
| Nonpartisan | Omari Tahir-Garrett | 1,854 | 1.55% | |
| Nonpartisan | Alex Tsimerman | 1,470 | 1.23% | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 344 | 0.29% | |
| Turnout | 126,012 | 30.41% | ||
| Registered electors | 414,340 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | M. Lorena González | 128,588 | 78.06% | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Bradburd | 35,293 | 21.43% | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 844 | 0.51% | |
| Majority | 93,293 | 56.63% | ||
| Turnout | 191,267 | 45.62% | ||
| Registered electors | 419,292 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | M. Lorena González | 108,602 | 64.17% | |
| Nonpartisan | Pat Murakami | 33,349 | 19.71% | |
| Nonpartisan | David Preston | 14,503 | 8.57% | |
| Nonpartisan | Pauly Giuglianotti | 3,782 | 2.23% | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric W. Smiley | 3,069 | 1.81% | |
| Nonpartisan | Ian Affleck-Asch | 2,585 | 1.53% | |
| Nonpartisan | Ty Pethe | 2,574 | 1.52% | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 768 | 0.45% | |
| Turnout | 187,741 | 40.49% | ||
| Registered electors | 463,660 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | M. Lorena González | 143,839 | 70.75% | |
| Nonpartisan | Pat Murakami | 58,700 | 28.87% | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 779 | 0.38% | |
| Majority | 85,139 | 41.88% | ||
| Turnout | 224,808 | 49.21% | ||
| Registered electors | 456,871 | |||
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