Girmay Zahilay, 38, sworn in as King County executive

Girmay Zahilay took the oath of office to become the seventh person elected to the position of King County executive.

Zahilay was sworn into office by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones Nov. 25 in the chambers of the King County Council in Seattle.

Zahilay assumes leadership of more than 18,000 employees and representation of more than 2.3 million people in the 12th largest county in the United States, according to a Nov. 25 news release from the King County Executive Press Office.

At 38 and born in Sudan, he becomes the youngest person ever to hold the office, the first immigrant, the first refugee and the first millennial, according to the news release. He is also the first person ever elected to the office to live outside of Seattle with a home in Tukwila. He immigrated to the Seattle area at age 3.

Zahilay takes office just three weeks after Election Day following the departure of former Executive Dow Constantine, now Sound Transit CEO, earlier this year. Constantine and appointed former Executive Shannon Braddock joined Zahilay in Council chambers to celebrate the first county administration transition in 16 years. Zahilay thanked both leaders for their years of service to the people of King County.

Zahilay defeated County Council member Claudia Balducci, in the Nov. 4 election, winning 54% of the vote

In his remarks following his swearing-in, Zahilay outlined his vision for a new era of King County that brings government closer to the people it serves, according to the news release.

He outlined the four principal ideas that his administration will follow – the ‘Four B’s:’

• Breaking the cycle – “We will seek to break the cycle of homelessness, addiction, crime and incarceration that is harming too many people in our region.”

• Building for affordability – “We will prioritize building the infrastructure needed to meet the needs of our growing population. We believe more supply will lead to more affordability. That means increasing the supply of housing, childcare, transit, and business opportunities by accelerating permitting timelines, investing public dollars in infrastructure, and coordinating more effectively across the region and sectors.”

• Boots on the ground – “We will push King County to be a more customer service oriented government with more of its personnel and efforts outside in high impact, external facing positions. I want you to see us outside, connecting and solving problems in a very tangible way: doing community clean ups, stocking food banks, knocking on doors in low income communities, activating physical spaces through the arts, setting up more customer service centers, and more. I also want us to capture the civic energy of the region through more volunteer opportunities for our constituents.”

• Better government – “We want to deliver government services more effectively, more equitably. We want to make our government more accountable and more transparent.”

The day before taking office, Zahilay announced his first major staff hires, naming Karan Gill as deputy executive and Jasmin Weaver as chief of staff, with Weaver’s appointment taking place in January. These appointments reflect his hiring vision of pairing county governance experience with newcomers to county government who can work together to bring forward innovation and new ideas, according to the news release. Even though he has taken office, Zahilay’s transition will continue into early 2026 as he, Deputy Executive Gill, and Weaver continue to build their new Executive office team.

Two weeks ago, Zahilay named the co-chairs of his 100-person Transition Committee, a large and diverse group of leaders from government, business, nonprofits, philanthropy, and other community members. The co-chairs are each facilitating subcommittees designed around the “Four B’s” and the entire committee will meet again in December before producing a final report of recommendations to the executive.

The co-chairs are Katie Garrow, executive secretary-treasurer at MLK Labor; Esther Lucero, CEO at Seattle Indian Health Board; Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft Corporation; and Doug Baldwin, CEO at Vault89, founder of Family First Community Center in Renton and a former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver.

Zahilay departs his role as King County Council member for District 2, a seat he has held for nearly six years. One of his first acts as executive will be to transmit three names to the council as options to replace him as the District 2 Council member, from which the council will make an appointment to serve out the remainder of the term.