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M. Lorena González
Lorena González in 2016
President of the Seattle City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 2020
Preceded by	Bruce Harrell
Member of the Seattle City Council, At-large Position 9
Incumbent
Assumed office November 24, 2015
Preceded by	John Okamoto
Personal details
Born	(1977-02-20) February 20, 1977 (age 47) Prosser, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Seattle, Washington
Education	Yakima Valley College Washington State University Seattle University School of Law
Occupation	Lawyer
Website	Campaign website

Maria Lorena González (born February 20, 1977) is an American politician and civil rights lawyer. She is a member of the Seattle City Council in the city-wide 9th seat. She was the first Latina elected to the council.

Early life and education

González was born in Prosser, Washington and raised in Grandview. She has five siblings. 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 1996. She described her early life as a "Spanish-speaking migrant farmworker household." González was crowned Grandview Miss Junior in 1994.

González attended Yakima Valley College at the Grandview Campus and earned a degree in business from Washington State University in 1999. During this time, she says she worked three jobs and relied on the assistance from scholarships to pay for her education. She moved to Seattle in 2002 and began attending the Seattle University School of Law, earning her JD in 2005.

Legal career

After graduating from law school, González became an attorney at Gordon Thomas Honeywell.

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 admitting that the incident was an example of biased policing. In 2014, she became legal counsel to Seattle mayor Ed Murray.

Seattle City Council

In 2015, González ran for the 9th 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. González won the election with more than 78% of the vote, 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. In 2017, González was reelected to office with more than 70% of the vote.

González was selected as the Council President in January 2020, succeeding Bruce Harrell.

Attorney general campaign

On August 8, 2019, González announced her intention to run for state attorney general in the 2020 election, to replace Bob Ferguson who was expected to run for governor. She also announced her intention of continuing to work on the Seattle City Council during the campaign. On August 22, 2019, González suspended her campaign.

Personal life

González has lived in Seattle since 2002 as a resident of the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Ballard, South Park, and White Center neighborhoods. She currently resides in West Seattle's Alaska Junction. She married her husband in November 2017.

Electoral history

2015 election

2017 election

References

1. https://www.seattle.gov/council/gonzalez
2. ^ Groover, Heidi (November 24, 2015). "Lorena González, the First Latina Ever Elected to the Seattle City Council, Will Be Sworn In Today". The Stranger. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
3. ^ Klepach, Scott. "Community: Up-and-Coming Professionals: Seattle Attorney Lorena Gonzalez". Tú Decides. Tú Decides Media. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
4. ^ "About Councilmember Lorena González". Seattle City Council Website. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
5. "Seattle University honors Lorena Gonzalez '05 with Community Service Award : Seattle University School of Law : Seattle Washington". law.seattleu.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
6. ^ Beekman, Daniel (February 18, 2015). "Seattle mayor's legal counsel announces bid for City Council". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
7. "Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez: 2018 We Choose All of Us Annual Conference". wechooseallofus.sched.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
8. "People on the Move". seattlepi.com. 2005-12-12. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
9. "SPD lawsuit over racial slur settled for $150K". Seattle Times. June 27, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
10. "Election Results General and Special Election". King County Elections. November 24, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
11. "King County November 7, 2017 General Election". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
12. Graham (January 7, 2020). "New Seattle City Council Sworn in with Calls for New Progressive Taxes". The Stranger. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
13. "Seattle Councilmember Lorena González announces bid for state attorney general". King5 News. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
14. "Seattle City Councilmember Lorena González: Why I'm running for attorney general of Washington state". KUOW. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
15. "Seattle councilmember suspends campaign for state AG". King5 News. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
16. Record, Tracy (November 15, 2016). "Hala Rezoning: What tonight's Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting heard, said, and asked". West Seattle Blog. Retrieved February 24, 2019. at-large Councilmember Lorena González, who lives in The Junction
17. @MLorenaGonzalez (January 8, 2018). "Celebrating the inauguration with some quality time and lots of love with my husband, Cameron" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. Norimine, Hayat (September 18, 2017). "Bagshaw Apologizes to González for Comments on Friday". SeattleMet. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
19. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 17, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
20. "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
21. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 15, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
22. "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. November 27, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.

External links

• Seattle City Council webpage
• Campaign website

• Living people
• Seattle City Council members
• 21st-century American women politicians
• 21st-century American politicians
• Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
• Women in Washington (state) politics
• Washington (state) Democrats
• People from Prosser, Washington