Robert M. Johnson is an American politician. He served on the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

representing the fourth district, covering northeast Seattle and the area around 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 ...

, from 2016 until his resignation in April 2019. In 2015, Johnson was elected to the city council after defeating Michael Maddux by a 708-vote margin in the nonpartisan general election. Johnson and Maddux had previously defeated 12-year

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 ...

Jean Godden Jean H. Godden (born October 10, 1931) is a former member of the Seattle City Council. She served from 2004 to 2016. Before running for city council, she was a columnist for the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' and ''The Seattle Times'' newspapers ...

in the August primary election. Both Johnson and Maddux ran as progressive urbanists (favoring denser city planning rather than urban or suburban sprawl), defeating slow-growth candidates Godden and Tony Provine. Prior to the election, Johnson was executive director of Transportation Choices Coalition, an advocacy group in Washington state, where he managed their campaign for the

Sound Transit 2 Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, re ...

rail expansion programs. Johnson was sworn into office on January 4, 2016. Several days later, he was appointed to the

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Se ...

board of directors by

King County Executive The King County Executive is the elected county executive of King County, Washington. The office was established with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter for King County on November 5, 1968. Previously the powers of the county executive w ...

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 ...

, replacing fellow councilmember Mike O'Brien. He stated that he would work to make Seattle more affordable, and to implement more transportation and education options. In November 2018, he announced he would not seek a second city council term. Shortly after the announcement, he was offered a position as transportation adviser to the NHL Seattle project. In late March 2019, Johnson announced he would vacate his council seat on April 5, 2019. After his resignation, an interim council member was appointed to take Johnson's place until the November 2019 election. Johnson's family has lived in Seattle for five generations. He lives in the Ravenna neighborhood with his wife, Katie, and their three daughters.

Electoral history

References

External links

Webpage
on Seattle City Council website Living people Seattle City Council members 21st-century Washington (state) politicians Year of birth missing (living people) {{Washington-politician-stub