Raised in San Antonio by a single mother, Tammy Morales earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a master’s degree in community and regional planning from the University of Texas at Austin. She served in policy roles in the Texas House of Representatives and then for the New York City Independent Budget Office. Upon moving to Seattle in 2000, she worked for community development nonprofits and later started a consulting firm. After narrowly losing the 2015 election in City Council’s District 2, she ran again in 2019, this time winning the seat. She was reelected in 2023 and resigned her seat in January 2025.