A 10-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department is one of five challengers running to unseat the incumbent in the area’s District 7 city council seat, which includes the beleaguered downtown. 

"Public safety is the first and foremost thing that I’m concerned about," police officer and candidate Aaron Marshall told the Jason Rantz radio show this week. "I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I feel like I’m pushing sand into the ocean right now. I have a lot of effect as a police officer, especially as a street-level cop like I am. But I know that real effect has to happen at the very top. So just short of running for mayor, I think the city council is where I’m most needed right now, especially living in District 7 as I have for the last 20 years."

The area has struggled in recent years with riotous protests – including the deadly Capital Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) – homelessness and rising crime, which reached a 14-year high in 2022. 

Marshall said he doesn’t think any incumbents on the city council deserve another term, including District 7’s Andrew Lewis. 

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"I’m neither Republican nor Democrat, but you and I completely agree on one thing that no incumbent should be reelected to the city council," Marshall told the radio show. "None of them deserve the job."

He likened the city council members’ performances to a private business. 

"Would you ever rehire somebody that has done the job they’ve done for the last four years? Impossible." 

But he said he realizes Lewis has raised $93,000 for his reelection, "which is significant."

He called Lewis a "political windsock," saying Democratic voters shouldn’t vote for him just because of his party affiliation. "There is no telling what direction he’s ever going to go. If 20 people show up to the city council and yell at him a little bit, he’s going to change his mind."

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Marshall had considered running for office before but said was told there’s "no way a white police officer is going to be on the city council."

Marshall, who was also in the Marine Corps, joined the Seattle Police Department in 2013. 

And for 10 years, I’ve done the job, proudly. I’m not worried about anything that I’ve done in the last 10 years. It’s been, like I said, a highlight of my professional career."

He said that while he loves being a police officer, he's a "citizen of District 7, first and foremost." 

He continued, "It is so important for me to let the people know that I love being a cop so much, but I love the city of Seattle even more. I’m willing to give up a job that I absolutely feel like it has been my calling to do, because I know that the city is in such dire straits."

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"We just need somebody in city government, in the city council, that has some common sense and who is an independent voice," Marshall added. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Marshall and Lewis' campaigns for comment.