Ryan Calkins
Ryan Calkins is a member of the Port of Seattle Commission in Washington, representing Position 1. He assumed office in 2018. His current term ends on December 31, 2025.
Calkins is running for re-election to the Port of Seattle Commission to represent Position 1 in Washington. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025. The primary for this office on August 5, 2025, was canceled.
Calkins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ryan Calkins graduated from Kamiak High School. Calkins earned his B.A. in religious studies from Willamette University. He later received his M.A. from Yale University. Calkins career experience includes working as a commissioner and owning an import company.[1][2]
Elections
2025
See also: Municipal elections in King County, Washington (2025)
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1
Incumbent Ryan Calkins is running in the general election for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Ryan Calkins (Nonpartisan)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ryan Calkins advanced from the primary for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1.
Endorsements
Calkins received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2021
See also: Municipal elections in King County, Washington (2021)
General election
General election for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1
Incumbent Ryan Calkins defeated Norman Z. Sigler in the general election for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ryan Calkins (Nonpartisan) | 74.3 | 395,362 |
| Norman Z. Sigler (Nonpartisan) | 25.0 | 133,007 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 3,648 | ||
| Total votes: 532,017 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ryan Calkins and Norman Z. Sigler advanced from the primary for Port of Seattle Commission Position 1.
2017
Ryan Calkins defeated incumbent John Creighton in the general election for the Position 1 seat on the Port of Seattle Commission.[3]
| Port of Seattle Commission, Position 1 General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ryan Calkins |
52.72% | 243,714 |
| John Creighton Incumbent | 47.28% | 218,537 |
| Total Votes | 462,251 | |
| Source: King County, "November 7, 2017 General Election," November 7, 2017 | ||
Incumbent John Creighton and Ryan Calkins defeated Bea Querido-Rico and Claudia Kauffman in the primary election for the Position 1 seat on the Port of Seattle Commission.[3]
| Port of Seattle Commission, Position 1 Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| John Creighton Incumbent |
32.74% | 124,884 |
| Ryan Calkins |
31.77% | 121,177 |
| Bea Querido-Rico | 20.51% | 78,230 |
| Claudia Kauffman | 14.50% | 55,316 |
| Write-in votes | 0.47% | 1,791 |
| Total Votes | 381,398 | |
| Source: King County, "2017 election results," accessed August 1, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2025
Ryan Calkins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Calkins' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
He received his Master of Arts from Yale University in International Relations and his Bachelor of Arts from Willamette University in Religious Studies. Born and raised in Edmonds by a public school teacher and a small business owner, Ryan now lives in Seattle with his wife and three children.
Commissioner Calkins focuses on sustainable economic development at the Port of Seattle, working to ensure that the region's prosperity is shared among all communities. In 2021, Ryan was recognized for his role in launching Maritime High School with the Laschever Marlinspike Award from the Northwest Maritime Center.
Ryan balances current needs with a long-term vision for the Port of Seattle, to ensure that one of our region's most valuable public assets will continue to thrive for generations to come.- Build the green economy.
- Prepare the workforce of tomorrow.
- Operate a world-class airport and seaport.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Calkins completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
2021
Ryan Calkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Calkins provided the following responses to Ballotpedia's survey of port commission candidates:
| “ |
What about your professional experience should encourage voters to select you for the commission? Identify one public figure, past or present, whom you admire. What would be your top priority if you are elected to the commission? What is the biggest challenge facing Seattle's port today? What is the biggest challenge for the port in the next decade? What is your stance on the state legislative proposal to expand the port commission to nine members and require by-district elections? What is your response to the state audit that found $4.7 million in payments to port employees that the auditor's office concluded might be unconstitutional under Article II, Section 25 of the state constitution? |
” |
| —Ryan Calkins (2017) | ||
Endorsements
2017
General election
The following table displays group endorsements issued in King County's 2017 general election:
| Candidate endorsements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorser | Executive | Sheriff | Council #3 | Council #9 | Port #1 | Port #3 | Port #4 |
| Equal Rights Washington[5] | N/A | Mitzi Johanknecht | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| M.L. King County Labor Council[6] | Dow Constantine (i) | John Urquhart (i) | N/A | N/A | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | N/A |
| Seattle Weekly[7] | Dow Constantine (i) | John Urquhart (i) | N/A | N/A | Ryan Calkins | Ahmed Abdi | Preeti Shridhar |
| The Seattle Times[8] | N/A | Mitzi Johanknecht | Kathy Lambert (i) | Reagan Dunn (i) | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | Peter Steinbrueck |
| The Stranger[9] | Dow Constantine (i) | Mitzi Johanknecht | N/A | N/A | Ryan Calkins | Ahmed Abdi | Preeti Shridhar |
Primary election
| Candidate endorsements | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorser | Executive | Port #1 | Port #3 | Port #4 | |
| Teamsters Joint Council No. 28[10] | N/A | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
| The Seattle Times[11] | N/A | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
| UFCW 21[12] | Dow Constantine (i) | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
| UNITE HERE Local 8[13] | N/A | John Creighton (i) | N/A | John Persak | |
| 1st District Democrats[14] | N/A | John Creighton (i) | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
| 37th District Democrats[15] | Dow Constantine (i) | Ryan Calkins | Stephanie Bowman (i) | N/A | |
| 43rd District Democrats[16] | Dow Constantine (i) | Ryan Calkins | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
| 45th District Democrats[17] | Dow Constantine (i) | Ryan Calkins | Ahmed Abdi | Peter Steinbrueck | |
| 47th District Democrats[18] | N/A | Claudia Kauffman | Stephanie Bowman (i) | John Persak | |
Additional endorsements
Calkins' campaign website listed the following endorsements:[19]
- King County Young Democrats
- Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn
- State Sen. Marko Liias (D)
- State Rep. Mia Gregerson (D)
- Former State Rep. Brady Walkinshaw (D)
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Port of Seattle Commission Position 1 |
Officeholder Port of Seattle Commission Position 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsurvey - ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 15, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 King County, Washington, "Who has filed: 2017 candidate filing," accessed May 19, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Equal Rights Washington, "Endorsements," accessed October 16, 2017
- ↑ M.L. King County Labor Council, "2017 Endorsements," August 24, 2017
- ↑ Seattle Weekly, "Sweep the Sweepers! Our Endorsements For the Nov. 7 Election," October 18, 2017
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Seattle Times endorsements for the Nov. 7 general election," September 7, 2017
- ↑ The Stranger, "The Stranger's Endorsements for the November 7, 2017, General Election," October 11, 2017
- ↑ Teamsters Joint Council No. 28, "2017 Endorsements," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Endorsements for the Aug. 1 primary election," July 11, 2017
- ↑ UFCW 21, "2017 Primary Election Candidate Endorsement Recommendations," July 11, 2017
- ↑ UNITE HERE Local 8, "UNITE HERE Local 8's 2017 August Primary Election Endorsements," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ 1st District Democrats, "2017 Endorsements," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ 37th District Democrats, "2017 Election Endorsements," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ 43rd District Democrats, "2017 Endorsement Results," June 21, 2017
- ↑ 45th District Democrats, "Endorsements & Elections," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ 47th District Democrats, "Endorsements," accessed July 25, 2017
- ↑ Ryan for Port, "Endorsements," accessed June 14, 2017
