Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling on Saturday, Nov. 8 acknowledged defeat in his 2025 bid for the 33rd Legislative District seat, thanking supporters and pledging to continue serving the Burien community and advocating for accountability in government.
The 33rd Legislative District includes SeaTac, Normandy Park, Des Moines, and parts of Kent, Burien, Renton, and unincorporated King County.
As of Friday’s (Nov. 7) fourth round of election results, Edwin Obras leads Schilling by 641 votes, with 11,343 votes (50.57%) to Schilling’s 10,702 (47.72%). That margin grew from 205 votes on Thursday.
Obras was appointed to the state House in 2024 to fill the Position 1 seat after former Rep. Tina Orwall moved to the state Senate, replacing longtime Sen. Karen Keiser, who retired that year.
“The people who voted made their decision. While I’m disappointed in the outcome, I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who stood with me in this campaign to push against extremism of all kinds and for common sense solutions to our statewide issues around taxes, public safety, and government accountability,” Schilling said in a written statement.
Schilling said he remains proud of his record in Burien government, highlighting efforts to expand housing options, improve public safety, and connect people experiencing homelessness with shelter and services.
He also cited his professional work as government affairs director for the Washington State Dental Association, where he said he has advocated for corporate insurance reform and expanded health care access. “I’ll continue to do that as well,” he said.
“The voters of the 33rd had choices, and I believe that’s important in our system. I was not that choice,” Schilling said. “But I hope that voters now see the importance of competitive elections, of not being afraid to speak up and demand more from their elected officials, and to constantly be a watchdog on those in power making decisions for you.”
Schilling said he will complete his Burien City Council term, which runs through Dec. 31, 2027, and continue his work in health care advocacy.
“Though this race has ended, my commitment to standing up for common sense and accountability has not,” he said.
Here’s Schilling’s full statement:
“The people who voted made their decision. While I’m disappointed in the outcome, I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who stood with me in this campaign to push against extremism of all kinds and for common sense solutions to our statewide issues around taxes, public safety, and government accountability.
“Throughout my time as Mayor of Burien and a Burien City Councilmember, I’ve worked to build more housing of all kinds, be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, improve public safety and getting folks off the streets and into shelter and services. I’m proud to work at my day job as government affairs director for the Washington State Dental Association where I’ve pushed for corporate insurance reform and expanding health care access, and I’ll continue to do that as well.
“The voters of the 33rd had choices, and I believe that’s important in our system. I was not that choice. But I hope that voters now see the importance of competitive elections, of not being afraid to speak up and demand more from their elected officials, and to constantly be a watchdog on those in power making decisions for you.
“Though this race has ended, my commitment to standing up for common sense and accountability has not. I’ll continue to do that as a Burien City Councilmember until my term ends at the end of 2027, as well as with the Washington State Dental Association to provide better and more accessible health care to patients. Thank you to everyone who believed in the campaign’s message and helped along the way.”
This (loss) just proves anything can be bought with outside campaign money… the whole “lot” of them. Obras, Mendez, Rocco, Garcia, and Moore.
I proudly supported Kevin and his campaign. He is a moderate, as I am. I don’t understand extremism at either end. Unfortunately, I discovered that people in Washington bought into negative and misleading information. The Obras ads that we received often were misleading and full of lies. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent and that is money that could have helped people in need. Well, you got what you deserve if you voted against Kevin who loves this city. Good luck!
They both had mudslinging mailing campaigns. The only real “choice” was write-in.
Glad my mailbox now has room for more important stuff, even if it is only advertisements.
Kevin turned his back on the working families of Burien, and the only downside to his losing, is that we are stuck with him in Burien instead of Olympia.
This wasn’t “outside” money or influence, it was Burien resident’s fed up with corruption.
Burien Ballots Counted: 10,105
Burien Registered Voters: 30,454
Equals = 33.18%
It was a *select* group of Burien residents who voted in this election (for whomever they chose), based on the entire population of the city of Burien. It was not the majority of the Burien residents, not even close.