 Jesse Miller |
Meet a new (since last month) state House candidate in District 29 in Tacoma, Jesse Miller, a civic activist, at Olympia and locally, working behalf of the poor. She is outspoken about racism. She runs a business, albeit one unusual for a legislative candidate: A rap record label called Felony Entertainment. Her roster of community activism - a lengthy list - includes Social Justice Fund-Leaders Under 40, Chair of the Board for Statewide Poverty Action Network 2004-2008, Springbrook Project 2008-, member of Black Collective, The Matrons Club, Praxis Project, Vote For A Change Campaign, Accessing The American Dream Project, Hip Hop Pioneer.
And one more thing, in no way being hidden by the candidate: About 15 years ago she was convicted on a drug charge (cocaine delivery) and served two years in prison. She's fulfilled all her obligations but, as the Felony Entertainment site quotes her: “'I found my options were slim,' she said, noting employment offers were limited to flipping burgers and other minimum wage jobs. 'That felony conviction followed me around'.â€
The district is pretty solidly Democratic, but this is a very edgy candidate for the Democrats anywhere in Washington, no?
Well no. She's running as a Republican, challenging incumbent Democrat Steve Kirby, who actually was supportive of some of Miller's proposals last term. (Miller has an interesting runthrough about the party choice on her Facebook page.)
A 2009 law opened the door to voting and even running for office for people who have a felony conviction in their background. Not everyone supported it; Representative Christopher Hurst (a Democrat, and a police detective) told the Tacoma News Tribune that a felony conviction “should be a lifetime disqualifier . . . There are plenty of other people who could run for public office.â€
There are, but the kinds of people who wind up in most legislatures tend to be . . . a lot alike. And if a person has gone through the strenuous process of societal repayment, has stayed clean and is up front about the record - why exactly should the citizen be denied the run, and the voters given the option? The point of having a lot of people in a legislature - 147 in Washington's case - is to collect a wide range of experiences, and people who have responded (hopefully successfully) in various ways.
A lot of material for discussion here.