Girmay Hadish Zahilay ( ; born May 6, 1987) is an American politician and lawyer who is a member of the King County Council from District 2 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. He was elected in 2019, defeating longtime incumbent Larry Gossett.

Early life and education

Zahilay and his brother were born in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

to Ethiopian refugees from

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

who had escaped military conflict. He was three years old when his family immigrated to the United States, settling in the Rainier Valley. Zahilay moved between

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

arrangements in several neighborhoods in South Seattle, including the International District and

Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of Cover ...

, while his mother Abie worked double shifts as a nursing assistant. The family also stayed at a

homeless shelter Homeless shelters are a type of service and total institution that provides temporary residence for homelessness, homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather whi ...

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

between moves to

in New Holly and Rainier Vista. He graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle and was a research intern at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Department of Biology. He majored in biology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he served as president of the

Black Student Union In higher education in the United States, a Black Student Union (BSU) is an organization of Black students, generally with a focus on protest. Historically functioning as a Black counterpart to the largely white organization Students for a Democra ...

. Zahilay earned a J.D. degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and worked as an intern at the Office of the

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

during the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

Career

Zahilay worked for the Congressional Hunger Center and New York City Coalition Against Hunger as a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community buil ...

after graduating from college. He then moved to jobs at law firms Skadden Arps in New York and Perkins Coie in Seattle. Zahilay also founded a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, Rising Leaders, that aims to provide mentors for underserved middle school students.

King County Council

In 2019, Girmay Zahilay was elected to the King County Council, serving District 2, which includes the University District, Laurelhurst,

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, Eastlake,

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

, the Central District, South Seattle, Allentown, and

. Zahilay was sworn in to represent District 2 on January 8, 2020, and was selected to chair the council's Law and Justice Committee. Zahilay announced his campaign for the King County Council in February 2019, becoming the first challenger to six-term District 2 incumbent Larry Gossett since 2005. Zahilay campaigned on the expansion of

and the replacement of youth incarceration with other methods. Gossett trailed Zahilay in the primary election by a 37 percent margin. Zahilay defeated Gossett in the November 2019 general election, becoming the youngest member of the King County Council.

Committee assignments

Zahilay served as Chair of the Law and Justice Committee beginning in 2020. In 2022 the Law and Justice Committee merged with the Health and Human Services Committee to become the Law Justice Health and Human Services Committee. In 2024 he was named Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. King County Council committees of which Zahilay has been a member include Local Services and Land Use, Employment and Administration, Transportation Economy and Environment, the Board of Health, and the Regional Policy Committee. Zahilay served as a King County Council appointee to the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Transportation Committee and the PSRC Governing Board.

Programs

In partnership with community-based organizations such as Urban Family and the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, Zahilay initiated a pilot program for guaranteed basic income that provided $1,000 in monthly payments to families with extremely low income over the span of a year. This program was launched in collaboration with

Evans School MPA students. In the 2021–2022 annual budget, Zahilay secured $10 million for a community center in

, an unincorporated area that had lacked many services. The county council allocated $6 million to increase bus service in the Skyway area, including an on-demand van service for residents. Zahilay advocated for a tiny house village in Skyway with 35 units that opened in 2021. In response to the significant rise in addiction and

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

issues in King County that have contributed to public safety concerns, Zahilay worked with the King County Executive to propose the Crisis Care Centers Levy. This proposal, which voters approved in April 2023, would fund the construction of five treatment centers for people suffering from behavioral health challenges, build back the region's long-term mental health bed capacity, and invest in the behavioral health workforce.

County Executive campaign

On December 2, 2024, Zahilay announced that he would run for King County Executive in the 2025 election. He is the second incumbent county councilmember to announce their campaign, following Claudia Balducci.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahilay, Girmay Living people American people of Ethiopian descent Politicians from Seattle King County Councillors African-American people in Washington (state) politics Washington (state) Democrats Stanford University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 1987 births Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people People associated with Perkins Coie Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century Washington (state) politicians 20th-century African-American politicians