‘The time for change is now.’ Why Black candidates in Tacoma are eyeing 2021 ballots
For the longest time, Kiara Daniels wondered if she had a place in politics. She had little interest in rubbing elbows, networking with important people or climbing social ladders, she said, which made her feel like the polar opposite of a traditional candidate.
While Daniels acknowledged last week that she had thought about running for office “really, forever,” there was usually something that stopped her. As a young person, sometimes she didn’t feel ready. As a community leader, sometimes she felt like she could accomplish more working in the trenches.
As a Black woman who grew up on Hilltop, she knew the voice she could bring to the table had long been missing or underrepresented in city government, but she wasn’t sure what her role was in working to address the glaring disparity.
That all changed this year. In January, Daniels officially announced her candidacy for the Tacoma City Council at-large seat currently held by Lilian Hunter.
In doing so, Daniels became one of many first-time Black candidates in the Tacoma area set to take the campaign plunge in 2021.
“I’m so much more comfortable on the ground, because that’s where I feel like we get things done. But I learned that it’s really difficult to get things done on the ground when it doesn’t align with what’s happening on the top,” the 31-year-old the business and community development coordinator for Spaceworks Tacoma told The News Tribune when asked about her decision to run.
“I really, really care about where I live. For so long it feels like (nontraditional Black leaders) have been locked out of caring about our community in an official capacity. We always have to ask for things or beg for resources,” Daniels said. “As I became older, I learned that we have to participate in government and participate in leadership if we want to see things change.”
While it’s far too early to predict how races will come together, we know that local ballots in 2021 likely will feature a number of candidates that could shake up local elected bodies.
In the midst of the nation’s racial reckoning — and the Black Lives Matter movement that helped push it to the forefront —it’s a sign of the times, many of these candidates said, and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Our communities are diverse, and making sure our elected bodies reflect this strength is long overdue, they argued.
Along with Daniels, Anne Artman — who founded the nonprofit Tacoma Recovery Center — has announced her intention to vie for the Tacoma City Council District 5 seat currently held by Chris Beale. So has Joe Bushnell, a Cambodian American who serves as a Tacoma Public Utility board member.
In Tacoma school board races, first-time candidate Chelsea McElroy — a youth advocate with a background in early childhood education — has announced her candidacy for Position 4, while Korey Strozier — who was appointed to Position 3 last year after Scott Heinze stepped down — has launched a campaign to hold onto the seat.
In University Place, Alecia Cunningham — a single mother of three boys who works with Girl Scouts of Western Washington — said this week she plans to run for a school board seat.
During interviews with The News Tribune, Daniels, Artman, McElroy, Strozier and Cunningham — all of whom are Black — cited specific reasons for running. Some spoke of a desire to address the area’s homelessness crisis, while others are focused on making sure kids with individual education plans have the support they need to succeed.
At the same time, each also said that breaking down the institutional and systemic barriers that have prevented diverse candidates from running in the past is part of their motivation — because representation matters.
“I’ve heard from so many parents that my voice … and my lived experience isn’t represented” on the school board, said McElroy, who’s 29 and founded Vision Step Team in 2017 to help empower Tacoma girls.
“I’ve been standing outside with a megaphone,” McElroy said. “I’d rather have a seat at the table.”
According to Strozier, 31, who graduated from Lincoln High School in 2007, the decision to run for the position he was appointed to last year is all about his two young daughters and all the kids out there like them.
Along with helping to craft important district policy and make decisions, Strozier said, he wants kids to know that running for office and being in a position of power is possible for anyone, regardless of skin color.
“Representation is everything, and when I was growing up, I didn’t see it,” Strozier said. “To see a Black man contributing to those decisions can be inspiring to the next generation of leaders.”
Asked about his own inspiration, Strozier said that T’wina Nobles’ successful state Senate bid provided plenty of it, and he wasn’t alone.
Cunningham — who is currently on the Greater Metro Parks Foundation board of directors hopes to follow Nobles’ footsteps by being elected to the UP school board — said that Nobles has been a “trailblazer” that many first-time candidates have been able to draw from.
Artman is also a fresh candidate in 2021, though her path to seeking elected office has been longer. After years spent working with families at the Multicultural Children and Family Hope Center, including many experiencing homelessness, she finally decided to run this year, at 60, bringing a wealth of experience that she views as an asset.
“The City Council does not represent who we are … and I’m the type of person who has a difficult time just sitting back and saying, ‘OK, someone else will take care of it.’ I see it as my job, and I look at it as my role,” Artman said.
“The time for change is now.”
With months still to go before the August primary — let alone the candidate filing deadline of May 21 — Daniels said she’s been encouraged by the support she’s received.
So far she’s raised more than $11,000 in campaign contributions and believes Tacoma voters are ready for the kind of change and fresh perspective her candidacy offers.
Meanwhile, she’s encouraged by the diverse candidates who have already joined her in her quest for office — because of what it means.
“There are a lot of candidates of color right now, specifically a lot of special young Black candidates and quote-unquote ‘non-traditional candidates,’” Daniels said. “This isn’t the first time that Tacoma has seen a group of Black candidates run for office, but I think this year in particular is really interesting.
“This is what equity looks like.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
