Splashy Lawyer Lincoln Beauregard Might Run For Bagshaw's Seat

SEATTLE, WA - Another incumbent has bowed out of the 2019 race. Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw won't seek reelection next year after serving 10 years on the Council.

And on Tuesday night, flamboyant local attorney Lincoln C. Beauregard announced he might (might!) run for her seat. Beauregard sued former mayor Ed Murray in 2017 on behalf of Delvonn Heckard, who claimed Murray sexually abused him in the 1980s.

"If no acceptable candidate steps up between now and the end of the election filing deadline next spring, I am going to run for the City Council, District 7 - the seat being vacated by Sally Bagshaw!" Beauregard wrote on Facebook.

Amid the Murray scandal, Beauregard was fined $5,000 for "ethical violations." He published a photo of himself with a Murray accuser from the Kent jail, and also brewed controversy over a Seattle police visit to Murray's house.

Seven of the nine Council seats are up for election in 2019. Two weeks ago, Councilman Rob Johnson announced he would not run again next year after serving just one term. Democratic socialist Shaun Scott said last week he'll run for Johnson's seat.

Former FBI agent Naveed Jamali has registered to run for the District 7 seat. Read more about some of the other candidates who have filed to run in 2019 here.

In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Jenny Durkan called Bagshaw a "key partner" for her on Council. Bagshaw headed the Council's budget committee, shepherding Durkan's austere 2019 budget to passage largely untouched.

"I’m so grateful for Sally’s service to Seattle. Seattle is better for it," Durkan said in a statement. "Since I became Mayor, Councilmember Bagshaw has been a key partner - including on delivering the balanced budget."

Bagshaw's decision was first reported Tuesday by Crosscut. Bagshaw told Crosscut she decided not to run in 2019 after her last election win in 2015.

"I was not going to do this for 14 years," she told Crosscut.

Bagshaw represents District 7, which spans Pioneer Square to Queen Anne and Magnolia. Her election to Council, however, predates the district system. Voters in 2013 approved a City Charter amendment that eliminated the at-large Council system, instead creating seven districts and two at-large members.

Image via Seattle Channel