| Tanya Woo | |
| Office: | Member of the Seattle City Council from District 8 |
| Term Start: | January 24, 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Teresa Mosqueda |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Randall Wo-Eng |
| Residence: | Rainier Beach, Seattle |
| Alma Mater: | University of Washington (BA) |
Tanya Woo is an American politician from Seattle, Washington. She was appointed to the city-wide District 8 seat on the Seattle City Council in January 2024.
Woo's family immigrated to Seattle in 1887 from China and owned multiple businesses in the Chinatown–International District, Seattle. [1] Woo's father bought the historic Louisa Hotel in 1963 [2] and Woo took over the redevelopment of the hotel after a devastating fire in 2013[3]
Woo has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Washington.[4]
In 2021, Woo began volunteering for Chinatown International District Community Watch (CIDCW), which was created after anti-Asian crimes, such as robberies, assaults, and vandalism, occurred in the CID during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] CIDCW provides resources and supplies to homeless individuals in the CID, do community clean-ups, and provide self-defense classes to senior citizens.[6]
In September 2022, King County, Washington released a plan to expand an existing homeless shelter in the SoDo, Seattle neighborhood and part of the CID neighborhood. The proposed expansion included 150 additional shelter beds, tiny homes, expanded support services, a sobering center, and reserved spaces for RVs.[7]
In response, Woo wrote an op-ed in the local International Examiner newspaper stating that the proposed expansion "...follows a long history of policies that have been forced on the CID, starting with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This is systemic racism." [8] Community organizers, included Woo, organized a rally of primarily senior citizens against the expansion.[9]
In October 2022, King County executive Dow Constantine announced that the SoDo Homeless shelter expansion would be halted, citing community feedback against the expansion.[10]
In February 2023, Woo announced a run for Seattle City Council District 2, against incumbent Tammy Morales.[11]
In the August 2023 Primary Election, Morales came in first with 52% of the vote, Woo came in second with 42.5%, both moving on to the November primary. [12]
In the November General Election, Morales won 50.65% of the vote to Woo's 49.1%, with a narrow margin of 403 votes.[13]
In January 2024, Teresa Mosqueda vacated her seat for Seattle City Council District 8, representing the entire city of Seattle, after being elected to King County Council District 8.[14] 72 people, including Woo, applied for the vacant seat[15], and in a 5-3 vote the Council voted to appoint Woo to the seat.[16] The appointment would last for ten months, until the November 2024 election and whoever won that election would only serve until the end of the term and would have to run for reelection in November 2025.
In June 2024, Woo announced that she would recuse herself from a controversial Gig Worker Wage Bill after recommendations made by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission over potential conflicts of interest due to her husband and father-in-law owning a BBQ restaurant that uses food delivery apps.[17]
In March 2024, Woo announced that she would run in the November 2024 special election to remain on the city council.[18]
In the August 2024 Primary Election, Woo came in second with 38% of the vote with Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the assistant director of policy planning and state operations at the University of Washington, coming in first with over 50% of the vote.[19]