The November elections are certified and Washington Bikes is excited by the results. Thanks to your votes, 50 of our endorsed candidates won in 23 communities.
That means more bike champions will make decisions about transportation policies and bike infrastructure in communities statewide in 2024. Washington Bikes will work with these elected officials in the coming years to make our streets safer and more accessible for all.
Here’s a rundown of the top five communities that are poised for positive change thanks to the bike champions we helped elect.
Spokane City Council & Mayor
We’re incredibly excited that WA Bikes Board alum Paul Dillon won a City Council seat along with Kitty Klitzke, who previously served on the state Cooper Jones Active Transportation Safety Advisory Council.
Dillon and Klitzke will be important voices as Spokane moves forward with implementing its new Vision Zero Action Plan, and as bike advocates push for new protected bike lanes on key downtown arterials.
Alongside these new new City Council members, Lisa Brown was successful in her bid to unseat the current mayor (a difficult task!). Brown voiced strong support for safer biking in Spokane during our endorsement process.
Now it is up to these new leaders and all of us to work together to win support for funding and street safety improvements that Spokane’s residents want and need.
Bremerton City Council
A strongly pro-bike council has gotten even stronger in Bremerton, where three of our endorsed candidates–Denise Frey, Anna Mockler, and Jane Rebelowski–won their races.
Electing these bike champions means that we can build on recent successes including the forthcoming upgrades to the Warren Street Bridge, which will include a wide shared-use path that will enable bike access for people of all ages and abilities.
Bremerton still has many streets that lack safe biking and walking infrastructure, but the city is an example of how communities can become more bike friendly when advocates work with elected officials to push for change. In Bremerton, that advocacy push is coming from the West Sound Cycle Club and Bike Bremerton.
Washington Bikes is excited to partner with Bremerton’s bike advocacy community and its pro-bike elected officials to realize big change in years to come.
Bellevue City Council
Since 2015, Bellevue has been methodically reforming its transportation system away from a sole focus on cars. There’s a lot more to do, and a supportive council is a necessity.
The re-election of John Stokes and Janice Zahn is a sign of community support for a path to better biking. Zahn is a strong voice for multi-modal transportation and safe streets. Joining these incumbent champions is Mo Malakoutian, who spoke up for better biking during our endorsement process.
As Bike Bellevue moves forward, these bike champions will be essential to continuing progress and opposing the vocal minority who oppose street safety in Bellevue.
King County Council
Along with returning bike champions Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay to office, voters selected Teresa Mosqueda and Jorge Baron to join them on the King County Council. These four WA Bikes endorsed candidates create an opportunity to strengthen King County’s commitment to safer streets and, in 2025, to send voters an ambitious parks Levy that finishes key trails in the King County Regional Trails network.
In particular, we’re excited to continue our work with Balducci, who brings creativity and a can-do attitude to making progress on trails and multi-model transportation options. We’re also looking forward to working with Teresa Mosqueda, who has been a bike champion while on the Seattle City Council.
Bothell City Council
Since the election of Amanda Dodd and Mason Thompson to City Council in 2019, Bothell has started to shed its car-centric, suburban reputation. With an ambitious bike plan adopted, thanks to those two bike champions, a new vision of Bothell is taking shape.
Carston Curd, a Bothell Planning Commission member who’s vision for Bothell aligns with Dodd’s and Thompson’s, was also elected to the City Council. We’re excited to see Bothell become a model for how suburban cities can break out of the car-centric mold and become more bikeable, walkable, safer and healthier communities.
Voting Matters!
Congratulations to our 50 elected bike champions, and thank you voters.
However, despite the favorable election results, voter turnout was low in November. Just 37 percent of registered voters returned ballots. That’s unfortunate, because we could have elected even more bike champions with higher participation.
Now the hard work starts to hold elected officials to their campaign commitments, and educate them about the need for more investments and policies that promote better biking.
Live in Seattle? Learn about the Seattle election results.
To support our work holding elected officials accountable to the needs of people who bike or want to, donate today!
