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Victoria R. Woodards (born July 16, 1965)[1] is an American politician serving as the 39th mayor of Tacoma, Washington.[2][3] A Democrat, she formerly served for seven years as an at-large member of the Tacoma City Council.[4][1]

Career

During Woodards' tenure on the Tacoma City Council, she worked to establish the city of Tacoma's Office of Equity and Human Rights. Woodards was also a member of the board of Metro Parks Tacoma, and served as president of the Tacoma Urban League.[5] Woodards was first elected as mayor in 2017, and won a second term in 2021.[6] She serves on the advisory board of the United States Conference of Mayors and is vice-chair of the organization's Committee on Jobs, Education, and the Workforce.

In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Woodards initially supported former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg before endorsing Joe Biden.[7]

In 2022, Woodards was elected as president of the National League of Cities.[8] In June 2024, Woodards travelled to China for a sisters city summit organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.[9]

Awards

  • 2021 Advocacy All-Star Award. Presented by Association of Washington Cities (AWC).[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Ruud, Candace (October 27, 2017). "Tacoma is about to vote for a new mayor. Who are we deciding between?". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  2. ^ "Woodards to Host State of the City Address April 11". Tacoma Weekly. March 20, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  3. ^ "Chronology of Tacoma Mayors" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  4. ^ "Office of Mayor Victoria Woodards". City of Tacoma. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. ^ Ruud, Candice (December 14, 2016). "Tacoma councilwoman resigning to run for mayor". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards wins re-election". KING-TV. November 2, 2021. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  7. ^ Budryk, Zack (March 10, 2020). "More than 50 mayors who once backed Bloomberg throw support behind Biden". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  8. ^ Lucia, Bill (November 26, 2022). "'Right Leader for This Time': League of Cities Gets a New President". Route Fifty. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Yiu, Pak (August 1, 2024). "China woos local U.S. officials as tensions with Washington rise". Nikkei Asia. Archived from the original on August 3, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "Congratulations 2021 Advocacy All-Star Award winners!". wacities.org. June 10, 2021. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.


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