Claudia M. Balducci (born September 24, 1967) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. She is the Chair of the

King County Council The Metropolitan King County Council, the legislative body of King County, Washington, consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws, sets policy, and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure is ...

, representing District 6. She previously served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

Education

Balducci earned a Bachelor of Arts from

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Balducci worked as a labor negotiator in

Lake Hills, Bellevue Lake Hills is a neighborhood in Bellevue, Washington. It lies to the south of the Crossroads and north of the Eastgate neighborhoods. In the early 1900s, Japanese immigrants farmed the part of Lake Hills between present day Larsen Lake and ...

. She has also worked as a leader in the areas of affordable housing, education, and transportation. Balducci was first elected to the Bellevue

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

in 2004. She served as deputy mayor of Bellevue from 2008 to 2009, and while working as the Director of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention for King County, was elected mayor of Bellevue in 2014. During her tenure as mayor, Bellevue was selected to participate in a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative to use data to enhance the distribution of public services. While serving as mayor, Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Council. After endorsements that included U.S. Senators

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (, October 11, 1950) is an American politician serving in her sixth term as a United States senator from Washington (state), Washington, beginning her tenure in 1993, and is the state's Seniority in the United States Senate, ...

and

Maria Cantwell Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician who has been the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Washington House of Representatives from 19 ...

, Governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

and King County Executive

Dow Constantine James Dow Constantine (born November 15, 1961) is an American lawyer, urban planner, and politician who is the chief executive officer of Sound Transit. He was appointed in 2025 after resigning as county executive of King County, Washington, a p ...

, Balducci defeated six-term

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Jane Hague in the 2015 election to the King County Council. After her re-election to a second term on the county council, she was unanimously elected to serve as Chair of the council in 2020. She is the first woman to serve as council chair since 2008. During her tenure as Chair of the King County Council, she has addressed the local

deployment of COVID-19 vaccines , 13.53billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, with 70.6 percent of the global population having received at least one dose. While 4.19million vaccines were then being administered daily, only 22.3 percent of peopl ...

, homelessness and housing issues, and law enforcement reform. In 2020, she proposed the director of the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) not be reappointed, which was successful after a council vote. In 2021, she sponsored a proposal to create a "first-in-the-nation" program to support undocumented immigrants with applications for status and citizenship that was approved by the King County Council. In 2021, in addition to her role as Chair of the King County Council, she was elected president of the

Puget Sound Regional Council The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is a metropolitan planning organization that develops policies and makes decisions about transportation planning, economic development, and growth management throughout the four-county Seattle metropolitan ...

, after previously serving as vice-president, and she has served as Chair of the Sound Transit System Expansion Committee.

Honors and awards

* 2015 Warren G. Magnuson Elected Official of the Year Award, Washington State Democratic Party

Personal life

In 2009, Balducci and her husband adopted a child from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balducci, Claudia Living people Washington (state) Democrats People from Bellevue, Washington King County Councillors Mayors of places in Washington (state) Providence College alumni Columbia Law School alumni 1967 births