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Lorena González
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 (1977-02-20) February 20, 1977 (age 47) Prosser, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Children	1
Education	Yakima Valley College Washington State University (BA) Seattle University (JD)
Website	Campaign website

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. She was a candidate for mayor of Seattle in 2021 but was defeated by Bruce Harrell 59 percent to 41 percent.

Early life and education

González was born on February 20, 1977, 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 in 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 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 Juris Doctor in 2005.

Career

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. 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. In 2014, she became legal counsel to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.

Seattle City Council

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. 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.

González was a supporter of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.

2020 attorney general campaign

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. She also announced her intention to remain a member of the Seattle City Council during the campaign. 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.

2021 Seattle mayoral election

In February 2020, González announced her candidacy for the 2021 Seattle mayoral election. 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%.

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. Lorena currently resides in West Seattle's Alaska Junction. She married her husband in November 2017 and they have a daughter.

Electoral history

2015 election

2017 election

References

1. ^ Groover, Heidi (November 24, 2015). "Lorena González, the First Latino Ever Elected to the Seattle City Council, Will Be Sworn In Today". The Stranger. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
2. M Lorena Gonzalez (February 20, 2021). "Today is Lorena's BIRTHDAY!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Twitter.
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 February 24, 2019.
5. "Seattle University honors Lorena Gonzalez '05 with Community Service Award : Seattle University School of Law : Seattle Washington". law.seattleu.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
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. December 12, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
9. Beekman, Daniel; Brunner, Jim (October 3, 2021). "Legal careers: How Seattle mayoral candidates Bruce Harrell and M. Lorena González practiced law". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
10. "SPD lawsuit over racial slur settled for $150K". Seattle Times. June 27, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
11. "Election Results General and Special Election". King County Elections. November 24, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
12. "King County November 7, 2017 General Election". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
13. Graham (January 7, 2020). "New Seattle City Council Sworn in with Calls for New Progressive Taxes". The Stranger. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
14. "Bernie 2020 Rolls Out Washington Co-Chairs and Slate of Endorsements". March 7, 2020. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
15. "Seattle Councilmember Lorena González announces bid for state attorney general". King5 News. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
16. "Seattle City Councilmember Lorena González: Why I'm running for attorney general of Washington state". KUOW. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
17. "Seattle councilmember suspends campaign for state AG". King5 News. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
18. "Lorena González joins race for Seattle mayor". www.kuow.org. February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
19. "Election Results – November 02, 2021" (PDF). King County Elections. November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
20. 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
21. @MLorenaGonzalez (January 8, 2018). "Celebrating the inauguration with some quality time and lots of love with my husband, Cameron" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. Norimine, Hayat (September 18, 2017). "Bagshaw Apologizes to González for Comments on Friday". SeattleMet. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
23. "Seattle City Council President Lorena González gives birth to first child". January 13, 2020.
24. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 17, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
25. "Elections Results - General and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. November 24, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
26. "Elections Results - Primary and Special Election" (PDF). King County Elections. August 15, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
27. "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 Archived April 30, 2021, at the Wayback Machine

• 1977 births
• 21st-century American women politicians
• Candidates in the 2021 United States elections
• Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
• Living people
• People from Prosser, Washington
• Seattle City Council members
• Washington (state) Democrats
• Women city councillors in Washington (state)
• Yakima Valley College alumni