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SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD —WCA Director Kamau Chege says when they couldn’t find that data, WCA conducted a study of Washington State’s representation among legislators, county councils, and prosecutors and the results were alarming.
“We had a sense of underrepresentation,” Chege said. “But the results at the state and local level were really abysmal.”
White people were overrepresented in all of the elected offices in Washington. WCA found that county councils and commissions are 99% white and 75% male. In addition, Washington’s prosecutors are 97% white and 87% male.
“Our research validates what so many people feel,” Chege said. “Our politicians don’t represent the people.”
Chege says that these disparities throughout elected offices within the state point to structural problems.
