[3][4][5][6] She took first place in the nonpartisan August primary and defeated urban planner and political activist Cary Moon in the November general election.

"[12][13] Her father, Martin Durkan, was a prominent Seattle-area lawyer, Democratic legislator, and lobbyist whose career included 16 years in the state Senate and two unsuccessful runs for governor.

[20] After graduating, Durkan spent two years in Alaska, teaching high-school English and coaching a girls' basketball team in the Yup’ik Eskimo community through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

"'[16] While in law school, Durkan participated in a pilot criminal defense clinic, working with the public defender's office to represent individuals charged in Seattle municipal court.

In 1991, Durkan returned to Seattle to join the law firm of Schroeter Goldmark & Bender,[23][24] and she established a successful practice focusing on criminal defense and work on behalf of plaintiffs, including the family of Lt. Walter Kilgore, who died in the Pang warehouse fire,[25] the case of Stan Stevenson (a retired firefighter who was stabbed leaving a Mariners game) and the case of Kate Fleming, who died in a flash flood in her Madison Valley basement during the Hanukkah Eve windstorm of 2006.

After initially recommending that an independent investigator represent Lowry, Durkan resigned in February 1995 after deputy press secretary Susanne Albright accused him of sexual harassment.

[33] After serving as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Durkan joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to head a new Seattle law office specializing in internet and online security issues.

[34] At Quinn Emanuel, she also represented FIFA as one of the lawyers conducting an independent internal investigation of issues related to a global corruption case brought by Swiss authorities[35] and the U.S. Justice Department.

[38] In September 1994, Durkan left the Schroeter law firm to join the staff of then-Washington Governor Mike Lowry as his lawyer and political adviser.

[37] In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Durkan to be the U.S Attorney for the Western District of Washington, which covers 19 counties and is home to 4.6 million people (78% of the state's population).

[48][49] She also focused on terrorism and national security issues, including the prosecution of two men who plotted to blow up a military recruitment facility in Seattle.

[44][54] In September 2014, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, Durkan was widely discussed as a potential candidate to succeed him.

[60] The DEA's search warrants suggested the dispensaries were involved in illicit drug dealing and money laundering, and City Councilman Tim Burgess said the raided shops were "operating well outside the medical provisions".

[61] Durkan asserted that the dispensaries in question were believed to be concealing criminal activity behind the state's medical marijuana law[62] and that authorities would not ignore flagrant violations.

[66] Federal grand jury investigations were formed in Seattle and Portland, and the FBI engaged in raids and issued subpoenas to suspected "anarchists".

Under grand jury rules, they could be asked a wide range of questions about themselves and people they knew, in secret proceedings without a defense lawyer present.

[69] They were sent to jail for refusing to testify by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones, and spent several months at the Federal Detention Center, SeaTac, including time in solitary confinement.

The Seattle chapter of the National Lawyers Guild condemned their actions, "urging the FBI and the US Attorney to end the raids and drop the grand jury subpoenas"[67] and raising concerns about political intimidation and negative effects on free speech.

"[76] In 2013 Durkan prosecuted Walli Mujahidh and Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif for conspiring to kill US military personnel on July 4, 2011, in a terrorist plot.

She outraised Moon 5 to 1, with over $600,000 coming from a political organization sponsored by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, allowing large corporations such as Amazon, CenturyLink, Comcast, Vulcan, and Starbucks to quietly influence a major local campaign.

[109] After becoming mayor, Durkan faced local, regional, and global crises, including homelessness, lack of affordable housing, crumbling infrastructure, and the COVID-19 pandemic, much of it stemming from Seattle's rapid population growth during the 2010s.

[118] In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Queerty named Durkan one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".

After receiving criticism from community activists and the police officers' guild for choosing out-of-state finalists, Durkan defended her decision as the recommendation of a search committee.

One alleged that Durkan had "grabbed her face and forcibly turned her head" when the employee was making suggestions on how to handle the anniversary of the death of community leader Donnie Chin.

The other described a hostile work environment where she was "set up to fail" despite having a good track record at previous jobs, and wanted $1.6 million in lost wages and emotional distress.

[140] The administration opened additional shelter spaces with more distance between beds, provided supporting services at hotels commissioned to house homeless people, and gave $10,000 grants to 250 small business by May 24, 2020.

[145] On May 15, Seattle City Council members Tammy Morales, Teresa Mosqueda and Kshama Sawant introduced an ordinance to ban sweeps of encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[166] On June 8, Seattle City Council members Morales, Mosqueda and Sawant called on Durkan to resign or be impeached "for gassing her own people".

[176] The same day, Western Washington District Court judge Richard A. Jones ruled that the city of Seattle had violated the Consent Decree on four counts by using crowd control weapons during the George Floyd protests.

[182] In 2023, the City of Seattle paid $600,000 to settle a lawsuit after a federal judge found that Durkan, Best, and Scoggins had intentionally destroyed evidence by deleting text messages related to their handling of protests and the CHOP.