Pooja Vaddadi

Seattle Municipal Court

Position 3

Education: LLM, University of California Berkeley; JD, Seattle University School of Law, BA, Bryn Mawr College

Occupation: Adjunct Professor, Seattle University School of Law

Statement: I am a first-generation Indian-American, a child of immigrants, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and would be the first South Asian woman elected as a Judge in Seattle Municipal Court.

Seattle faces serious issues with recidivism, chronic homelessness, and untreated mental illness that have not been addressed by the existing judges. I aim to hold the court accountable for its failure to address Seattle’s needs by replacing the least effective member of this bench, as reflected in the March 2022 King County Bar Association’s Judicial Officer Survey.

My career as a public defender was a crucible of constant interaction with the courts, the prosecutors, defendants, and the community. I’ve taken 11 criminal cases to trial and prepared hundreds that were either dismissed or pleaded before seating a jury - all to outcomes that were the best I could obtain for my clients and aligned with a profound respect for the law.

I’ve practiced in district courts in both Snohomish and King County, and most recently in Seattle Municipal Court. During this final 10-month stretch in Seattle, I saw a dramatic rise in untreated mental illness, a decline in the services available to defendants and their families, and a disturbing unwillingness by the court to acknowledge or address these issues.

I stand for compassion, fairness, and restorative justice, and have received exclusive endorsements from the King County Democrats, the Young Democrats of King County, the Democrats for Diversity and Inclusion, the Women’s Political Caucus, and the Democratic Legislative Districts of the 46th, the 37th, and the 43rd. I believe this reflects that the current court has not earned the confidence of Seattle and must do better.

If elected, I will elevate the standard of judicial competence and integrity in Seattle. I would be honored to have your vote.

VotingforJudges.org, P.O. Box 3570, Silverdale, WA  98383
Write to [email protected].

VotingforJudges.org includes ratings and endorsements from numerous organizations. We provide this information so that voters will be better informed about the candidates. We do not rate or endorse any candidates; the ratings and endorsements of organizations included at this site reflect the views of those individual organizations and not necessarily the views of votingforjudges.org or its sponsors.