Former U.S. attorney Jenny Durkan will formally announce her candidacy for mayor of Seattle tomorrow morning, according to a press release from her campaign. Seattle City Councilmember M. Lorena González may also jump into the race soon, according to reporter Erica C. Barnett:

Hearing that @MLorenaGonzalez is jumping into the mayor's race, and that deputy mayor @HyeokSeattle, another rumored candidate, is not.

— Erica C. Barnett (@ericacbarnett) May 11, 2017

Called for confirmation Thursday morning, González office staff said they did not know whether she is running.

Durkan, the first openly gay U.S. attorney, was appointed by President Obama to head the Western District of Washington from 2009 through 2014. During that time, she distinguished herself in part by cracking down on crime “hotspots” in White Center; she also “played a significant role” in causing the Department of Justice investigation of Seattle Police that led to the city’s current police reform consent decree, according to The Seattle Times. When Attorney General Eric Holder stepped down in 2014, she was on the Obama administration’s shortlist of possible replacements, but lost out to Loretta Lynch.

González, the daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants, made a name for herself as a lawyer who sued Seattle Police after one of their officers brutalized and threatened to “knock the Mexican piss” out of an arrestee. She went on to work in current Mayor Ed Murray’s office as legal council, then in 2015 won her current seat on the City Council.

Murray announced earlier this week that he will not run for reelection due to sex abuse allegations (he denies the allegations). More than a dozen candidates are registered or expected to run in this autumn’s mayoral race, including attorney and activist Nikkita Oliver, urban planner Cary Moon, former mayor Mike McGinn, and state senator Bob Hasegawa.

cjaywork@seattleweekly.com