I want to thank everyone who voted in this election, I feel honored, humbled and grateful for your faith and confidence in me by electing me as your next city councilman for position no 3.

I also want to thank Mayor Nancy Backus; Congresswoman Kim Schrier, D-WA, Eighth District; Congressman Adam Smith; every individual and organizations such as the Valley Professional Fire Fighters, IAM District 751, the 30th, 31st and 47th District Democrats; King County Democrats; and King County Realtors, who endorsed and supported me in various capacities. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Deborah, for her unwavering support.

I am proud to see that the new council in 2020 will better reflect the diversity of Auburn and hope that all in our community will feel their voices will be heard.

To my opponent, Ken Pearson, thank you for also running. I am proud of the respectful campaigns we both ran that were based on issues and not on personal attacks. I wish you the very best.

I look forward to working with my fellow council members, the mayor, city staff and the community. We need to come up with workable solutions to solve some major issues our city is facing. There is a lot of work to be done, but I know we can accomplish great things when we work together as a community. I look forward to hearing from you and working with everyone to build a community we are proud to call home.

– James Jeyaraj, Auburn City Councilman-elect