Ann Davison Sattler is an American attorney and politician serving as the

Seattle City Attorney The Seattle City Attorney is a non-partisan elected official in Seattle, Washington whose job is to "prosecute people for misdemeanor offenses, defend the city against lawsuits, and gives legal advice to the city". Since 2022, the position has bee ...

. She was elected in November 2021.

Career

Davison had practiced law for 15 years prior to being elected

Seattle city attorney The Seattle City Attorney is a non-partisan elected official in Seattle, Washington whose job is to "prosecute people for misdemeanor offenses, defend the city against lawsuits, and gives legal advice to the city". Since 2022, the position has bee ...

. In 2019, Davison unsuccessfully challenged

Debora Juarez Debora Juarez is an American lawyer and politician serving as the president of the Seattle City Council. She was first elected in 2015 to represent the 5th district. A member of the Blackfeet Nation, she was the first Native American person electe ...

, an incumbent 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 ...

. She had run on a platform of removing homeless encampments from public areas and constructing emergency shelters to house them. A former

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 ...

, in 2020, Davison left the Democratic Party to became a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. She made an unsuccessful bid for

lieutenant governor of Washington The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The incumbent is Denny Heck, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor s ...

, finishing third in the

nonpartisan primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

with 12 percent of the vote, behind Democrats

Denny Heck Dennis Lynn Heck (born July 29, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and politician serving as the 17th lieutenant governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 10th con ...

and

Marko Liias Marko Sakari Liias (born July 17, 1981) is an American politician serving as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 21st district since 2014. The district, located entirely within Snohomish County, includes portions of Lynnwoo ...

. She promoted her status as an ex-Democrat, associating with the WalkAway campaign of Democrats-turned-Republicans. In making the case for her party switch, Davison posted a video to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in June 2020 outlining her belief that the Democratic Party had become “far left” and stating she had come to no longer identify with it. She later confirmed she voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president that same year. In 2021, Davison ran for Seattle city attorney. She played down her party affiliation in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, focusing instead on the views of her opponent, Democrat Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who had advocated for the abolition of the police. Davison was declared the winner by media outlets on November 5, 2021, having defeated Thomas-Kennedy. While Thomas-Kennedy received the support of many labor unions and Democratic politicians during her campaign, her rhetoric repelled many Democratic-aligned voters who ultimately supported Davison in protest of the positions taken by Thomas-Kennedy. Three former governors of Washington endorsed Davison in her campaign, Democrats

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...

and

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...

, and Republican Dan Evans. Davison earned a BA in Sociology from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

in 1990, and her

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 ...

degree from

Willamette University College of Law Willamette University College of Law is the law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Willamette is the oldest law school in the Pacific Northwest. It has approximately 24 full-time law professors and ...

in 2004.

References

Lawyers from Seattle Living people Washington (state) city attorneys Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) Republicans Year of birth missing (living people) {{Washington-politician-stub