Girmay Zahilay won the race for King County executive Friday, a victory that places a former refugee who grew up in public housing at the helm of Washington’s largest county, overseeing a $10 billion budget and 18,000 public employees.

Zahilay, a member of the Metropolitan King County Council who lives in Tukwila, led fellow Councilmember Claudia Balducci 53.3% to 45.5% after Friday’s vote counts.

Balducci conceded shortly after Friday’s tallies were released.

“He has my full support, and I look forward to continuing working with him going forward,” Balducci said in a statement. “Throughout this campaign, we heard frequently that voters thought highly of both candidates. This puts us in a rare position in politics today to end an election campaign unified rather than divided and well-al

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