We didn’t know what kind of fresh hell we were in for when District 2 City Councilmember Tammy Morales bowed out of office one year into her second term. The appointment process sucked; the unimaginative snoozers on the city council selected multiple-SECB-endorsement-loser Mark Solomon to take the seat. Luckily, Solomon isn’t running to keep the seat, so we have an open race on our hands!

Which brings us to the pool of four viable D2 hopefuls: Union guy and SDCI inspector Jamie Fackler; restaurant organizer and activist Jeanie Chunn; assistant city attorney Eddie Lin; and mayoral transportation engagement manager Adonis Ducksworth.

After a lively (read: tense, yell-y) discussion, the clear choice for D2 is Eddie Lin. As an assistant city attorney, Lin’s focus for the last several years has been working with the Office of Housing. When it comes to housing, and building more of it, Lin knows his stuff. In the midst of a never-ending housing crisis and a new Social Housing Developer on its way through the Seattle Process’s long birth canal, we need someone who can get shit done. Lin knows we need subsidized affordable units, social housing, limited equity co-ops, and everything else under the sun to get people four walls and a roof. Plus, whoever sits on council will implement Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Comprehensive Plan. Lin, a fiend for density and walkable neighborhoods, is a smart choice to kickstart the next 20 years of Seattle’s growth.

One of the main hits against Lin, as Fackler repeatedly brought up, was that he didn’t go all out championing Proposition 1A, the voter measure that set up a funding mechanism for the Social Housing Developer. Lin didn't vote for it because, as a housing wonk, he was concerned that it was vulnerable to being undermined by a more conservative, Chamber-backed City Council. However, he says he’s come around and is ready to champion it. 

He’s also a total slut (sorry, Eddie) for progressive revenue. He’s DFAIT (Down For An Income Tax), a vacancy tax, and a city-level capital gains tax. We liked Chunn’s idea for a commercial vacancy tax, but felt she was still a little too green to hack it in City Hall. We hope to see her again.

The other knock against Lin is, like all other candidates except Chunn, he wants more cops. Lin’s desire for increased police presence does go hand-in-hand with hiring a more diverse police force and expanding police alternatives. Plus, Lin’s experience with police brutality made him wary of cops. In his 20s, a Minneapolis police officer cuffed him, put his hands on his throat, and made racist comments—confusing Lin, who is Asian, for a Native American. The rattling experience forever changed Lin’s view of policing. We felt Fackler, while progressive and knowledgeable about the same issues, was too soft on the cops, especially their union.

We’re certain Ducksworth will win the Seattle Times endorsement. He’s suave, charming, and doesn’t answer a single question. He’s also fucking cool. Sadly, underneath his skater chic, Ducksworth is nothing but a visionless moderate (read: Bruce Harrell). We already doubted he’d be our guy from the start, and he did us a solid by confirming that with a shitty, uninformed comment blaming drug users for their own predicament.

“I did the ride along last week, and these guys asked at least 50 people, are they ready to go to treatment? We got one. We got one. So this comes down to the person on the street, too. Who wants to get off the street,” Ducksworth said.

“That’s because some of the treatment options are not—,” Lin said.

“They’re not asking about the treatment options,” Ducksworth interrupted. “They’re getting high.”

Ducksworth’s mask came off. We did not like it under there.

So, Lin is our guy. He’s the whole package. He’s a cat guy and a dog guy. He’s a public schools champion. This is why we willfully turned a blind eye to the fact that he could only name two examples when asked what his four favorite films were and one of them was White Lotus Season 1, famously not a movie. If he’s even seen a movie, he wasn’t paying attention. There weren’t enough housing solutions for his taste. Vote Lin.

Editors Note: This endorsement originally appeared in The Stranger's July 2025 issue. In that version, we said Lin voted to support Prop 1A. After publication, his campaign clarified that he voted for 1B in February, but supports the social housing model now. We regret the error. Also, Jamie Fackler's last name is "Fackler" not "Frackler" (as it appeared in one instance in print). We regret the "r." Give a Frack doesn't hit like Give a Fack.