Andrew Joseph Lewis (born November 11, 1989) is an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-lar ...

from District 7. He was an assistant city attorney prior to his election to city council, and also worked on political campaigns.

Early life and education

Lewis was raised in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood to a family of local political organizers; his father worked for

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, No ...

and his mother was a nurse at Harborview Medical Center. His activities in politics began in high school by attending marches and volunteering for political campaigns, including stints on the Seattle Youth Council and the board of the Young Democrats of Washington. Lewis attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history and political science, was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar, and interned with the

. Lewis was the government relations director for the Associated Students of the University of Washington from 2011 to 2012. He was the campaign director for Nick Licata in his successful 2009 reelection campaign. Lewis earned a Master of Arts degree from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the UC Berkeley School of Law. He also served as a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate school ...

for former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who later endorsed him.

Career

Upon his return to Seattle, Lewis was appointed to serve on the Seattle Human Rights Commission and the Rental Housing Inspection Stakeholder Committee. He also worked as a deputy

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

for the King County Juvenile Division until he left to work as an assistant city attorney for Seattle. Lewis announced his campaign for the District 7 council seat in November 2018, shortly after incumbent Sally Bagshaw announced she would not run. He campaigned on expanding

housing affordability Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median household income, median as rated by the Government, national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability i ...

in the city and received support from progressive groups and local

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s. Lewis finished first among the field in the primary election, with 32 percent of the vote, and advanced to the general election alongside former Seattle Police Department chief Jim Pugel. His campaign received financial support from a local hotel workers union's political action committee, while Pugel received support from

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Lewis won in the general election with 53 percent of the vote after initial returns showed him narrowly trailing Pugel. He became the youngest city councilmember in Seattle history, entering office at the age of 29. Lewis was sworn in on December 31, 2019, at the community

P-Patch A P-Patch is a parcel of property used for gardening; the term is specific to Seattle, Washington. The "P" originally stood for "Picardo", after the family who owned Picardo Farm in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood, part of which became the ori ...

atop the Mercer Garage at the Seattle Center, which he announced would not close. He took office in January 2020 and was named to a regional

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

governing board alongside at-large councilmember Lorena González. A political

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

, Lewis has referred to himself as a "labor

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

", and did not support Seattle head tax ordinance. He was the president of the Seattle Parks Board; in 2020, Lewis voted to reduce funding to the Seattle Police Department. Lewis was defeated when he ran for re-election in 2023.

Personal life

Lewis is a resident of the

Lower Queen Anne Lower Queen Anne (officially known since 2021 as Uptown) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, at the base of Queen Anne, Seattle, Queen Anne Hill. While its boundaries are not precise, the toponym usually refers to the sho ...

neighborhood in Seattle. In an interview with ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'', he described himself as "not a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

" and identified as a labor Democrat.

Electoral history

2019 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Andrew J. Living people Lawyers from Seattle Politicians from Seattle Seattle City Council members Alumni of the London School of Economics University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Washington alumni 21st-century American politicians 1989 births