By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The background
Three AAPI candidates have thrown their proverbial hats into the ring for the King County Council’s District 5 seat, which spans Des Moines, Kent, Normandy Park, Renton, SeaTac, and Tukwila.
In January, the council appointed Tukwila Councilmember De’Sean Quinn to fill the seat vacated by Dave Upthegrove, who won the state race to become Washington’s public lands commissioner last year.
The three AAPI candidates in the running are Steffanie Fain, Peter Kwon, and Kim-Khanh Van.
Ahead of the Aug. 5 primary, the Northwest Asian Weekly conducted a mini-forum with the three candidates, asking them about their backgrounds, what they would do in office, if elected—and, importantly, how they would pull it off.
-
- Steffanie Fain
-
- Peter Kwon
-
- Kim-Khanh Van
The candidates
But first, let’s briefly meet the candidates.
Fain’s mother came over from South Korea with Fain’s father, a U.S. Army serviceman. Though her mother struggled with the language barrier, she eventually graduated from North Seattle College at the age of 60. Because of this dedication, as well as the community service values instilled in her at a young age, Fain learned the value of hard work and perseverance.
Coming into the race, Fain wears several hats, including that of Harborview Hospital’s president, managing partner at a law firm, and a mother. She is also an 18-year breast cancer survivor.
Though Fain has never held public office, she has experience guiding an organization through troubled waters, as her tenure at Harborview encompassed the initial stage of the pandemic. In her work as a lawyer, Fain helps employers and employees navigate complex laws to foster safer working environments.
Fain’s experience with breast cancer has instilled in her a commitment to equitable access to healthcare. In 2014, she founded the MultiCare South King Health Foundation.
Fain has been endorsed by several legislators, including Rep. Marilyn Strickland and Sec. of State Steve Hobbs. She also holds endorsements from community leaders, mayors, former electeds, and The Seattle Times.
Kwon immigrated to the United States with his family from South Korea when he was very young. Following his parents’ divorce when he was 10 years old, Kwon’s mother raised him by herself.
First elected in 2015, and subsequently reelected in every election cycle after that, Kwon currently holds a seat on the SeaTac City Council. In that time, he has created known community programs, including the Security Mailbox Program and the volunteer-run initiative to help SeaTac residents who can’t afford professional landscaping services to clean up their yards. He has also worked to help build more than 1,000 units of affordable housing, develop a program to help residents pay their rent and stay housed, and support elders with meal programs and transportation.
Kwon serves on several local boards and committees. In 2024, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities, a nonpartisan organization that represents U.S. cities in the nation’s capitol, and lobbies for programs meant to benefit municipalities, and fight against proposals that could hurt them.
Kwon comes with endorsements from several legislators, including fellow councilmembers and current and former mayors, as well as state Rep. Cindy Ryu.
Van, an immigrant and refugee from Vietnam, has served for the last six years as a Renton councilmember. In addition to governance experience, Van brings to the table both the lived experience of an Asian immigrant, as well as legal expertise as an immigration lawyer. She enters the race for the District 5 seat not only with decades of community-driven work at the local, state, and federal level under her belt, but a proven track record of making policy into reality.
Van has also been recognized as an AAPI leader who champions community causes, serving on several local boards whose organizations address AAPI and regional issues, including the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She has won several awards for her community and legal work.
When the pandemic hit, Van co-founded AAPI Against Hate, a movement that included community figures, such as the late Uncle Frank Irigon, Professor Connie So, Michael Itti, Tanya Woo, and youth organizers. The OCA—Asian Pacific American Advocates of Greater Seattle, awarded the movement the Golden Circle Award, in an effort to recognize their work. This year, Van will be speaking at OCA’s annual convention.
Van’s candidacy comes with a suite of notable endorsements, including state and local officials, community organizations, news publications, and unions.
The questions
Northwest Asian Weekly
Why are you running for office? What’s your background?
Steffanie Fain
I’m a second-generation Korean American, a mom of two boys in public school, and a longtime South King County resident. I’m also a breast cancer survivor, youth sports coach, parent-teacher and classroom parent, and someone who has spent nearly two decades in South King County volunteering and advocating for safer and healthier communities.
Professionally, I’m a civil litigation and employment attorney with over 15 years of experience helping small businesses navigate complex regulations and advocating for employees’ rights and safer workplaces. I’ve also served for the past 11 years on the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees—now as its longest-serving president—where I helped lead one of our region’s most vital public health institutions through the pandemic.
I never wanted to run for office. But after the last election, I found myself deeply frustrated by the lack of progress on some of our region’s biggest challenges—public safety, behavioral health, and housing—and by the lack of transparency in how we spend public dollars. Too often, we see well-intentioned plans passed without clear implementation or accountability. I’m running because I believe South King County deserves leadership that’s serious about delivering real results and not just making noise.
Peter Kwon
I’ve lived in King County for over 35 years and currently serve on the SeaTac City Council. I was first elected in 2015, and reelected in 2019 and 2023. I’m an IT professional and work as the Project Director for the Korean American Institute. My previous employers include Boeing, Nordstrom, and the University of Washington School of Nursing.
As a councilmember, I bring a practical, solutions-oriented approach to public service. I first got involved when I organized a neighborhood effort to stop mail theft by installing secure mailboxes. This grassroots initiative led to a citywide program that has been copied by other cities.
That experience showed me the power of local leadership, and my neighbors encouraged me to run for office.
Kim-Khanh Van
I know firsthand what it means to fight for a better future.
I was born in Vietnam and fled with my family to a refugee camp in the Philippines at the age of 6. We endured harsh conditions and uncertainty, but we also carried hope. That hope brought us to King County, where I grew up in a working-class family, helping to support my family by working as a tutor and janitor. I became the first in my family to graduate from college and earn a law degree, eventually becoming an immigration attorney to help others navigate the very system that shaped my own life.
For the past six years, I’ve served on the Renton City Council, where I’ve led through some of our most difficult times, including the first Trump administration, the COVID-19 pandemic, and our ongoing recovery. I’ve focused on supporting working families, small businesses, seniors, and communities too often left out of the conversation.
I live in Renton in a multigenerational household with my husband, our two children, and my mother. Every decision I make is guided by the lessons of my lived experience, my legal expertise, and my deep love for this community. I’m running because King County deserves a councilmember who listens, leads with compassion, does their best to represent our diverse community, and never backs down from a hard fight.
I didn’t decide to run for County Council on my own; community members I’ve stood beside over the years asked me to do so.
Northwest Asian Weekly
What major issues are you looking to tackle, if elected? How would you solve them?
Fain
The top concerns I hear are public safety, housing, and homelessness. People want to feel safe in their neighborhoods, see meaningful progress on homelessness, and be able to afford to stay in the region they’ve helped build.
Public safety: I’ll work to rebuild trust and improve response times by ensuring we have both strong accountability and the right mix of resources, including law enforcement, behavioral health teams, and culturally responsive crisis response options. That starts with fully staffing our police, fire, and EMS departments. At the same time, we must expand co-responder and alternative response programs that connect people in crisis with the right kind of help.
We must treat behavioral health as part of a fully integrated continuum of care with supports that follow people through transitions like detox, inpatient treatment, housing, and long-term recovery. It’s also why I support earlier investments in youth violence prevention, school-based mental health, and community-centered crisis response. Public safety must be grounded in collaboration and trust.
Homelessness: Homelessness is one of the most visible and urgent challenges facing our region and a symptom of deeper system failures in behavioral health, housing access, and care coordination. Addressing it requires more than one-size-fits-all solutions. We must build a broader, more flexible approach that reflects the complexity of people’s lived experiences. That includes low-barrier shelter, transitional housing, supportive services, and pathways to treatment and recovery.
Housing: I’ll champion a balanced approach to increasing supply in a way that both expands affordable and workforce housing options across income levels, but also protects longstanding communities from displacement. We need more housing, faster. That means modernizing outdated zoning laws, streamlining permitting, and digitizing infill development reviews to cut unnecessary delays and costs.
As we grow, we must do so thoughtfully. That includes upzoning around transit and schools, expanding housing choices like ADUs, townhomes, and mid-scale apartments, and ensuring that one city’s development pressures don’t displace families into another. Housing and transit policies must be planned in alignment across the region because this is a shared challenge, not one that any city can solve alone.
Kwon
I’m focused on three key areas: Housing affordability, public safety, and access to essential services.
[As a SeaTac councilmember,] I helped bring over 3,000 units of affordable and workforce housing at SeaTac’s two light rail stations. I also supported incentives and funding for licensed in-home childcare businesses to help families with young children, especially single mothers. There are 21 [businesses], and 10 more on the way.I have also made public safety a priority, supporting full police staffing while investing in mental health and human services. I believe in working across jurisdictions and listening to communities to craft smart, lasting solutions. At the County level, I will continue that work to collaborate with other members to meet urgent needs while planning responsibly for the future.
Van
As a candidate for King County Council, I’m focused on building a future rooted in safe and healthy communities, opportunity for all, and transparency and co-governance.
Safe and healthy communities: Public safety means more than law enforcement—it means ensuring everyone feels secure, supported, and seen. I believe in a holistic approach that includes reliable emergency services, hiring and supporting deputy sheriffs, expanding culturally sensitive mental health services and crisis response teams, and addressing root causes through prevention and community support.
That also includes environmental health. I have advocated for testing harmful PFAS chemicals in our water and opposed developments like the SR 169 Asphalt Plant to protect our rivers and communities. On the Council, I’ll work to fully implement King County’s Strategic Climate Action Plan, invest in green spaces, and promote climate resiliency, especially in areas most vulnerable to pollution and displacement.
Opportunity for all: Families in South King County deserve an economy that works for them. I’ll fight for affordable housing through smart zoning, funding community-based projects, and supporting Renton Housing Authority and homeownership programs like RISE; good jobs and economic equity by investing in small businesses, supporting gig workers, and expanding workforce development and job training; and union partnerships by strengthening labor protections, requiring prevailing wages and Community Workforce Agreements, and expanding apprenticeships—especially for underrepresented communities.
I’ve already directed [American Rescue Plan Act] funds to small business grants, human services, and housing in Renton—and I’ll bring that same urgency and equity-driven approach to the County level.
Transparency and co-governance: Trust in government starts with openness and collaboration. I’ll ensure that residents have clear, accessible information and regular opportunities to be part of decision-making. That means hosting regular town halls, simplifying budget communication, and working closely with labor partners, community leaders, and grassroots organizations. I want to meet with unions quarterly and co-create policy that reflects our shared values—not just respond when issues arise.
Northwest Asian Weekly
What would you bring to the King County Council, if elected?
Fain
My leadership is rooted in the AAPI values I was raised with: hard work, service, and respect. I believe in listening to those closest to the issue—from small business owners to service providers to transit riders—and turning that insight into action that delivers real results. I bring a combination of lived experience, legal and policy expertise, and proven leadership in public service.
I also show up and do the work. I’ve read King County’s 2025 budget (and the omnibus that is currently before the Council). I’ve watched every King County Council meeting—and most city council meetings across this district—because I take this job seriously, even if I don’t have it yet.
I’ll be a councilmember who shows up, listens, and gets things done with accountability, transparency, integrity, and heart.
Kwon
I bring a decade of public service and a proven record of listening and getting things done.
I helped the City of SeaTac go from budget deficits to surpluses without raising property tax rates. At the same time, we expanded investments in infrastructure, social services, and parks.
I am known as someone who listens first, leads by example, and finds common ground. Some people simply know me as “the mailbox guy” for launching SeaTac’s locking mailbox program. However, I have done much more. Some examples are my work to protect green spaces and stopping the airport from cutting down nearly 3,000 trees. I also worked to preserve North SeaTac Park permanently.
I’ll bring that same energy, experience, and dedication to the King County Council.
Van
If elected to the King County Council, I bring a rare combination of lived experience, hands-on leadership, and deep community trust, built from the ground up over decades of public service.
I have crisis-tested leadership, a proven ability to deliver resources at scale, environmental and public health protection, and equity in action, not just words. I also have a background as a multilingual, immigrant bridge-builder whose personal experience and work as an immigration attorney grounds me in community.
I bring bold, community-rooted leadership to King County, leadership shaped by lived experience, a record of results, and deep relationships across South King County. I’ve shown up, stood up, and delivered when it mattered most.