Alert date November 14, 2025

Contact: King County Executive-elect announces next steps for leadership changes

King County Executive-elect Girmay Zahilay

Girmay Zahilay is the new elected executive of King County, Washington. He will be sworn in on November 25, 2025. Zahilay has focused on outcomes in public safety, housing, and transportation throughout his career, and was the King County Councilmember for District 2 before being elected.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Girmay Hadish Zahilay (/ˈɡɜːrmaɪ ˈzɑːhɪlaɪ/ GUR-my ZAH-hil-eye;[1] born May 6, 1987) is an American politician who is a member of the King County Council from District 2 in Seattle, Washington. He was elected in 2019, defeating longtime incumbent Larry Gossett. In 2025, Zahilay was elected King County Executive, succeeding interim appointee Shannon Braddock.[2]

Early life and education
Zahilay and his brother were born in Sudan to Ethiopian refugees from Tigray[3] who had escaped military conflict. He was three years old when his family immigrated to the United States, settling in the Rainier Valley.[4] Zahilay moved between public housing arrangements in several South Seattle neighborhoods, including the International District and Skyway, while his mother Abie worked double shifts as a nursing assistant. The family also stayed at a homeless shelter in Downtown Seattle between moves to public housing in New Holly and Rainier Vista.[5][6]

Zahilay attended Asa Mercer Middle School in Seattle.[7] He graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle and was a research intern at the University of Washington Department of Biology.[8] He majored in biology at Stanford University, where he served as president of the Black Student Union. Zahilay earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an intern at the Office of the White House Counsel during the Obama administration.[4]

Career
Zahilay worked for the Congressional Hunger Center and New York City Coalition Against Hunger as a community organizer after graduating from college.[5] He then moved to jobs at law firms Skadden Arps in New York and Perkins Coie in Seattle.[4] Zahilay also founded a non-profit, Rising Leaders, that aims to provide mentors for underserved middle school students.[4]

King County Council
In 2019, Girmay Zahilay was elected to the King County Council, serving District 2, which includes the University District, Laurelhurst, Ravenna, Eastlake, Capitol Hill, the Central District, South Seattle, Allentown, and Skyway.[9] Zahilay was sworn in to represent District 2 on January 8, 2020, and was selected to chair the council’s Law and Justice Committee.[10]