Tacoma City Council could have a majority of Black or women members for the first time
The 2021 election could mean some milestones for the Tacoma City Council.
Depending on the outcome of the Nov. 2 general election, the Council could have a majority of its members belonging to communities of color. It also could have a Black majority for the first time ever.
Out of nine total City Council positions, five are up for grabs this election season: the mayor position and Districts 2, 4, 5 and 6.
Of those positions, four of them — mayor, 4, 5 and 6 — have candidates of color running for the seat.
The Aug. 3 primary election will set the stage for the Nov. 2 election. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day or placed in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on election night.
In the race for mayor, incumbent Victoria Woodards is running against opponents Jamika Scott and Steve Haverly. Both Woodards and Scott are Black women, and Haverly is white.
Districts 4, 5, and 6 could seat a candidate of color where there previously was not one. In District 4, incumbent Catherine Ushka, who is white, faces opponents Nolan Hibbard-Pelly, who is white, and Israel James McKinney, who is Black.
The seat for District 5 is an open seat, with candidates Joe Bushnell, Anne Artman and Treyvon Dunbar all belonging to communities of color. Bushnell would be the first Cambodian-American to serve on the City Council, if elected.
In District 6, Kiara Daniels, who is Black, and Brett Johnson, who is white, are vying for the open seat.
Tacoma historian Bill Baarsma said he could recall at most two Black members on the City Council at any given time.
In 2016, there was a period of time where Keith Blocker, who is now deputy mayor, Woodards and Marilyn Strickland, who was Tacoma’s first Korean and African American mayor at the time, served together on the Council, according to city records. In 2017, Woodards stepped down to run for mayor of Tacoma, which she was elected to in 2017.
Baarsma said that having a majority of women for the first time on City Council is also possible. At least one woman is running for each of the five City Council races on the ballot this year.
District 2, which was previously help by Council member Robert Thoms, will have a woman hold office as candidates Sarah Rumbaugh and Kelly Blucher, who are both white, vie for the seat.
Depending on where the votes land, there could be as many as six women on the City Council in 2022.
“That will certainly set a record,” Baarsma said.
