East Pierce County is becoming more and more diverse. How about its elected leaders?
East Pierce County is growing.
Talk to any long-timer – they’ll tell you how much their neighborhood has changed. They’ll let you know that traffic has worsened throughout the years, and that construction work never seems to end.
The demographics of residents have also changed.
The News Tribune wanted to know how closely the elected officials there reflect those changes – if the demographics of those who vote mirror the people they place into office.
Some government bodies haven’t changed much. East Pierce County only has a few BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) elected officials, despite the growing number of diverse residents.
The Pew Research Center’s report in February 2023, which analyzes the changing face of Congress, inspired this project. Here’s what The News Tribune found after looking at U.S. Census data, conducting its own survey, and combing through other available data.
How have the demographics of East Pierce County changed?
Pierce County has a total population of 893,378 as of 2022, according to Pierce County’s Equity Map. The number of women and men are the same. About 68 percent are white, 12 percent are Hispanic/Latino and 7 percent are Black/African American and Asian.
The News Tribune analyzed population demographics using the Census’ 2022 American Community Survey, focusing on East Pierce County. Census data shows East Pierce County cities have become increasingly diverse in recent years. It’s an area of Pierce County that’s growing rapidly.
The communities analyzed are Bonney Lake, Buckley, Carbonado, Eatonville, Edgewood, Milton, Orting, Puyallup, South Prairie, Sumner and Wilkeson.
Many facets make up a person’s identity. The News Tribune only analyzed a few of them – race, ethnicity, age and gender.
A database that collects the demographics of elected officials in East Pierce County does not exist. The News Tribune attempted to collect that information through a survey. Despite phone calls and emails from The News Tribune to request participation, only 35 out of 78 total elected officials responded – about 45 percent.
The News Tribune tried to make comparisons between East Pierce County’s population and its elected officials, but the lack of survey responses made it impossible to draw accurate conclusions.
While East Pierce County has remained predominantly white from 2018-22, racial minority groups have grown. Data from the Census shows that the number of those who are Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, some other race and two or more races increased. Of the 35 elected officials who responded to the News Tribune’s survey, four identified themselves as a person of color.
Those who are Black or African American represented about 2 percent of the overall population in 2022. About 6 percent of the survey respondents said they were Black or African American.
In Edgewood, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community grew from nothing in 2020 to about 3 percent of the total population in 2022.
West of Edgewood is Milton, whose Asian community grew 4.2 percentage points in five years, peaking in 2020 at about 9 percent of the total population.
East of Milton and Edgewood are Buckley, Carbonado and Wilkeson. These cities’ populations have not changed much from 2018 to 2022, each remaining at least 90 percent white during this period.
The number of Hispanic or Latino residents has increased about 32 percent from 2018 to 2022. But in 2022, there were still almost 10 times as many non-Hispanic or Latino residents as there are Hispanic or Latino residents.
Of the elected officials who responded to the survey, only 2 percent said they were Hispanic or Latino, and 11 percent chose not to respond to that question.
The percentage of women and men has remained within three percentage points of 50/50 from 2018 to 2022. Of the elected officials who responded to the survey, 40 percent identify as female and 60 percent identify as male.
The number of residents ages 20 to 34 has grown by about 11 percent from 2018 to 2022. The shift to a younger population can be seen more noticeably in Eatonville, Orting, Puyallup and Wilkeson. The average age of the elected officials who responded to the survey is 49, and 20 percent of the respondents chose not to answer.
How closely do the demographics of elected officials in East Pierce County reflect the residents of those cities?
Rosemary Powers, president of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County, told The News Tribune Sept. 25 that they do not track how the demographics of elected officials in East Pierce County have changed in recent years.
When asked if the elected officials there reflect the populations they serve, Powers said that would be subjective and that it is a big question to ask.
“It hasn’t come up as something we should study,” Powers said.
The league is nonpartisan. They look more into holding elected officials accountable and less about analyzing their demographics, Powers said.
Puyallup’s city spokesperson, Eric Johnson, suggested that a News Tribune reporter reach out to the Puyallup Historical Society at the Meeker Mansion to get a general idea of the demographic makeup of this year’s council and past councils.
The Puyallup Historical Society has not tracked any demographic information on council members. They have a list of mayors between 1890 and 2009, which only had their names.
Bonney Lake Mayor Terry Carter wrote in an email Aug. 8 that the council has four women and three men. He said he believes this is the first time women have outnumbered men.
Sumner city spokesperson Carmen Palmer wrote in an email Aug. 7 that she would be “very surprised” if any city collected demographic data on council members. Council members are not considered city employees because the public elects them, she said.
The city works with who the public elects, Palmer said, so it is up to the public to vet candidates for an elected position.
Palmer said that based on appearances, the Sumner City Council has three women, four men and a female mayor as of Aug. 27. In 2020, there were five women, two men and a male mayor.
Palmer has never asked council members about their gender identity, so her assessment could be inaccurate, she said.
“My guess is that this is an abnormally high representation of women in our elected official roles,” Palmer said. “Having equal gender representation is unfortunately rare across the nation and something of which we’re very proud.”
When asked if the Sumner City Council has become increasingly diverse by race or ethnicity, Palmer said: “Trying to rely on a visual assessment of someone’s race/ethnicity can be very inaccurate.”
“The Census shows our residential population is becoming more diverse,” Palmer said. “Since a person must live in the jurisdiction in which they serve, that means the opportunity continues to increase for more diversity in our elected roles as well.
Socioeconomic status and age are “difficult” demographics to get equal representation on, Palmer said, because being an elected city official is challenging and does not pay enough.
A Sumner City Council position offers a bi-weekly salary of $645. No benefits are given. The position requires the individual to dedicate 18 to 20 hours per month to meetings and community activities, Palmer said.
“The nature of the job still trends more toward older individuals with a healthy economic situation who have the time and energy to devote to the job,” Palmer said.
Palmer recalls a time in the 1990s when a 20-year-old served on the council while he was in college. He is now Puyallup Police Chief Scott Engle.
“That was amazing to have,” Palmer said. “It would be wonderful to see more young people run for office.”
Which demographics are voting in East Pierce County?
For this year’s primary election, more than 4.8 million Washingtonians were registered to vote, according to the Secretary of State’s website. More than 550,000 of them live in Pierce County – about 39 percent of them returned their ballots.
About 66 percent of those who returned their ballots in Pierce County are 65 years old and up, whereas 19 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the website.
The Secretary of State’s website does not show any other demographic information on voters.
Katie Baird, an economics professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, told The News Tribune on Aug. 15 that the older population tends to vote more than other age groups.
Baird, who is also an active member of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County, said data on those who vote are limited. She also said she does not know a lot about East Pierce County.
Young voters, those under 35, comprise about 28 percent of the electorate in Pierce County for this year’s primary election, according to a 2024 report from the Washington Community Alliance. Their turnout was 27 percent lower than older voters.
Voters of color comprise about 20 percent of the electorate, according to the report. Their turnout was 20 percent lower than white voters.
The Washington Community Alliance is a statewide coalition that aims to “close the representation gap for people of color in elected office,” according to its website.
Senior research analyst Tim O’Neal told The News Tribune on Sept. 24 that the nonpartisan group works with other groups aligned with key issues such as “having an electorate that is truly representative of all of Washington.”
O’Neal told The News Tribune on Aug. 29 that although young voters typically vote less than older voters, those ages 17-24 tend to have a higher turnout than those ages 25-34.
“I think there might be something uniquely energizing about the new slice of the electorate,” O’Neal said about voters ages 17-24.
Asked about turnout predictions for the upcoming election, O’Neal said in an email Oct. 24 that “the general feeling” is that overall turnout in Washington state will probably be somewhere between the historic low of 78 percent in 2016 and the historic high of 84 percent in 2020.
“Interestingly, while we expect turnout to generally correlate with age (since older folks vote more than younger folks), we’ll be closely watching an interesting trend that has shown up in recent elections in WA, and is currently showing up in early voting in states like Georgia: Turnout of the youngest voters (18-24) has been higher than turnout of voters 25-35,” he wrote. “... If that trend holds true through this election, it would be an encouraging sign that young people are bucking the overall trend, which would have huge ramifications for the electorate overall.”
Asked about why turnout is higher among older voters, O’Neal had several ideas.
Among them: The older someone is, the more they tend to learn about how politics affect their daily lives and the more invested they tend to become.
And when someone has voted once or twice, it might become a habit. That comes with age.
Representation, he said, is also a factor.
“Younger people are more likely to resonate with the feeling that their vote doesn’t matter, especially when the majority of candidates and elected officials are decades older than them, while older people have likely experienced at least a few elections in their lifetimes that were decided on slim margins, which may assuage that feeling,” O’Neal wrote.
Asked what’s being done to increase engagement among younger voters, O’Neal wrote: “I can only speak to the work being done by our network ... , but there are some pretty large programs throughout Western WA. A group of folks are working together to do a massive amount of door-knocking in Clark County, specifically focusing on young folks. Another group is working in Pacific, Grays Harbor, and Jefferson counties, door-knocking in communities of color but focusing on younger folks. And on campuses throughout the state, a pair of organizations have been doing major voter registration programs since the summer, and will be following up with those folks with a GOTV (get out the vote) message.
When asked about how East Pierce County is doing with representation, O’Neal said he is not an expert in the area. However, he knows that there has been a concerted effort to do more canvassing and organizing there during election season.
“There’s a general recognition across our network that, historically, there’s been too much of a focus on large population centers in WA (especially Seattle, but also Spokane and Bellingham), while more rural and suburban areas have been ignored,” O’Neal wrote. “As a result of some reflection, East Pierce County – along with East King County, North Central Washington (Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties), and the Yakima Valley – has been a focus of in-person organizing this year.”
O’Neal said there are only about 12 states in the country that collect voters’ race, which is a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law to prohibit racial discrimination when voting.
Washington state is not one of the 12 states.
“Until we hit parity where we have 100 percent voter turnout, we’re going to continue seeing our electeds not reflecting the population they’re supposed to serve,” O’Neal said.
Are the demographics of the candidates running in East Pierce County elections changing?
Generally speaking, candidates who are running are becoming more diverse, O’Neal said. There are more people of color running, and there are more young people running for the first time.
In 2023, about 4,300 candidates filed for an elected position in the state, O’Neal said. About 1,500 candidates filed in 2019. He said he has yet to determine the demographics of those candidates.
“The number of candidates running is increasing,” O’Neal said. “More people should run for office, especially in local races and countywide races. There’s so many that go uncontested year after year.”
O’Neal said some candidates do not get elected due to sexism and racism. Securing money for a campaign and building up one’s name can also be barriers for some.
Davida Haygood wrote in an email Sept. 25 that her time for campaigning is limited. Haygood, who is running for the Pierce County Council District No. 2 seat, will be on this year’s general election ballot.
Haygood is a mother who works full-time. She does not come from a wealthy background, she said, so a significant portion of her time has been dedicated to fundraising.
“As a Black woman candidate, safety is always a concern. We often have to be hyper-aware of our own safety and that of our loved ones. My campaign team has been incredible in this area, ensuring I never canvass alone, which has been crucial for my peace of mind,” Haygood said.
If elected, Haygood’s priorities include affordable housing, environmental justice and empowering youth, according to her website. Haygood is an education professor, and she lives in Puyallup.
Paul Herrera, who holds the Pierce County Council District No. 2 seat, is running for reelection. He was not immediately available for comment. He has a background in military and law enforcement, according to his website.
If elected, Herrera’s goals involve addressing homelessness and addiction, keeping taxes low and serving “people’s interests,” according to his website.
Herrera is the first Hispanic member of the Pierce County Council, according to a blog post from Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier. He is also the only veteran among the seven council members.
The demographics of East Pierce County are changing, Haygood said. It is evident at schools, grocery stores, libraries, parks and other spaces. However, the demographics of elected officials there do not accurately reflect the diverse backgrounds of its residents, she said.
“As I’ve connected with residents at their doors and in the community, I’ve heard a clear message: People want change, and they want more diverse representation among their local officials,” Haygood said.
Haygood said having diverse representation helps bring a wider range of perspectives and experiences to the decision-making process. As a result, more inclusive policies are created, among other things.
“Diverse voices ensure that decisions are made with greater empathy, equity and a deeper understanding of the challenges and aspirations of the entire population, not just a select few,” Haygood said.
Haygood said that to increase voter turnout, it is important for candidates to restore trust in local government.
“We have the potential to create real change, and this year’s election could be a turning point,” Haygood said. “We’re getting closer to having more inclusive representation, but we need people to show up and vote – because their vote is their voice.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
