King County Executive Constantine Announces 2021 Re-Election Bid

SEATTLE — Dow Constantine, the King County Executive since 2009, will seek re-election next year when he will continue to focus on a number of social and economic issues facing the region as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues in the midst of challenges that Constantine characterizes as unprecedented.

Constantine is expected to officially announce he will again seek the office at a Zoom event Monday night. In a news release Monday, Constantine said will continue to focus on community health and safety, housing and homelessness along with a number of other vital concerns facing King County on both a short-term and long-term basis, including improving improved public transportation service around the region and fighting systemic racism.

Constantine will continue to do so, he said, amid the pandemic as the wait for implementation of a vaccine continues at a time when positive cases of the virus continues to surge both around Washington and the United States.

“We will use this unprecedented moment to rebuild and create a fairer, more just society,” Constantine said in the news release.

Because of the pandemic and restrictions that were announced by Gov. Jay Inslee on Sunday, Constantine’s Monday night announcement will be made virtually as opposed to at the birthday celebration that he typically holds with family and friends, the news release said. The event has traditionally been held at Kells Irish Pub in the Pike Place Market’s Post Alley for nearly 20 years. But due to the pandemic, the event will will be replaced this year by the online gathering that will include performances by musicians and storytellers as well as a conversation with travel expert and political activist Rick Steves.

Constantine, who served as a state senator prior to be named the King County Executive, has also prioritized providing emergency and supportive housing with onsite behavioral services for nearly 2,000 homeless residents around the county over the next two years.

“We are uniting public partners, foundations, and private funders and nonprofits to make real progress in tackling the homelessness and affordability crises,” Constantine said in the news release. “We must move beyond stale debates, embrace evidence-based solutions, and act together to end this era in which thousands subsist in tents and parks instead of thriving in a place to call home. The health and dignity of our homeless neighbors and our entire community hang in the balance. We will take proven strategies to scale and make demonstrable progress throughout our region.”