Seattle City Council Selects Joy Hollingsworth as President, Swears In Foster and Rinck

Seattleites packed the Council Chamber Jan. 6 as the City Council held its first meeting of 2026, selecting a new council president and swearing in newly elected Councilmember Dionne Foster and reelected Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck.

Foster and Rinck will represent two at-large positions, while District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, whose district includes the Central District, Montlake, and Eastlake, was selected as the new council president.

The council voted unanimously to elect Hollingsworth, succeeding former two-year Council President Sara Nelson. First elected in 2023, Hollingsworth's colleagues praised her leadership as chair of the Select Committee on Seattle's Comprehensive Plan. Hollingsworth is the first Black and queer woman to serve as Seattle City Council president.

Hollingsworth will also serve as chair of the Governance and Utilities Committee.

During public comment, South End resident Nathan Wall said he was happy to see more progressive representation on the council, even if councilmembers do not always see eye to eye.

"As a member of the queer community, part of what we fight for is the right for everybody to live freely, as they are," Wall said to Hollingsworth and Foster, who also spoke about identifying as bisexual and queer in her speech. "The fact that we have people on our council who are queer, who disagree with each other, I think is a testament to our city."

Frequent commenter Bennett Haselton said he has long felt Hollingsworth opened a dialogue with him during his comments over the years.

"Even if I disagreed with you, I got the sense that you felt that accountability, that you wanted to provide an explanation for what you were doing," Haselton said.

Following Hollingsworth's selection, Foster, a resident of District 2, was sworn in by her son to City Council Position 9. She defeated Nelson last November with 62.8% of the vote.

Foster will serve as the chair of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee.

She ran on a platform focused on affordable housing, climate policy, and labor protections. Foster has lived "a lot of different lives in this city," she said, from working as a waitress downtown and raising her son to working in philanthropy and environmentalism.

"I will work every day to make good on the promise of a government that makes people's lives better," Foster said, "not just for people whose stories are like mine, but for every person who calls this city home."

Alexis Mercedes Rinck was reelected to City Council Position 8 with over 81% of the vote, only a year after winning a special election in November 2024. She was sworn in by African Community Housing and Development Vice President Bilan Aden.

Rinck was reappointed to the Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee.

As the youngest member ever elected to the council at 29, Rinck had an eventful first year in office, advocating for social housing initiative Proposition 1A and passing the Seattle Shield Initiative, which relieves taxes for small businesses.

"You won't just find me in these council chambers — you'll find me on picket lines, attending organizing meetings, at food distribution sites, and wherever people are fighting for a better city," Rinck said. "This movement we began didn't end on election night; it lives on in every battle we fight together."

Rinck and Foster will serve a four-year term as citywide representatives. Hollingsworth's current term ends in December 2027.