Selecting a new King County executive is multifaceted process

If Dow Constantine does indeed become the CEO of Sound Transit, Metropolitan King County will have a new leader for the first time since 2009, after Constantine won the first of his four terms to lead the state’s largest county.

The county charter lays out a multistep process for filling a vacancy in the county executive’s office.

The first step happens almost automatically: Constantine chooses one of his aides to serve as an interim executive. When he took office in 2009, Constantine identified a list of deputies who could serve as interim executive if he leaves office.

He has continually updated that list, via executive order, ever since, most recently last summer.

First on the list is Deputy Executive Shannon Braddock.

Braddock has worked in the executive’s office since 2017, previously serving as chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and director of council relations. She previously led the office of former Metropolitan King County Councilmember Joe McDermott.

Braddock, who lives in West Seattle, ran for state Senate as a Democrat in 2018, advancing through the primary but losing in the general election to Joe Nguyen.

She would be the first woman to serve as King County executive.

After Braddock, on Constantine’s ordered list of possible interim county executives are: County Chief Operating Officer Dwight Dively, Chief of Staff Karan Gill, Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Hills.

Braddock’s term as interim executive could be quick.

The next step is for the Metropolitan King County Council to choose a county executive. They could do that one of two ways: They could choose an acting county executive to serve in the short term while they consider their options. Then they would choose an appointed executive to serve until voters choose the next executive in November. Or they could skip the acting executive and just choose an appointed executive to serve until November.

Whoever they County Council chooses will need a majority of the nine-member council to get the job.

There are currently three candidates running to replace Constantine, who had already announced he would not seek a fifth term. King County Councilmembers Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay and County Assessor John Wilson, all Democrats, are all vying for the permanent post.

The last time there was a vacancy in the county executive’s office was 2009, when Ron Sims left to take a job in the Obama administration.

Sims designated Kurt Triplett, his chief of staff, to serve as interim county executive. The County Council, after considering several candidates, then chose Triplett to continue on as county executive through the November election.