If you haven’t already, now is the time to make sure you are registered to vote in the 2020 elections. Local elections are crucial to participate in—make sure you vote! Of course, part of voting is being informed, and this guide is here to help you who to figure out who to follow on social media for Tacoma’s 2020 election season. 

From multiple seats on the Pierce County Council to the Pierce County Executive, the direction of Pierce County (which is pretty evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats) will be decided once again. Denny Heck (Congressman from the 10th District) is stepping down, and so far, former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland is in the running for his seat.

While they get very little coverage, these local elections are incredibly important to the day to day lives of people living in Tacoma and Pierce County.

Here are some folks to start following to stay on top of the local elections:

Podcasts

Crossing Division

Let’s Talk About What We Expect and Hope to See in Tacoma in 2020!”

Billed as “Tacoma’s Talk Show,” Crossing Division has had multiple hosts and covers a range of topics relating to life in Tacoma. In this episode Evelyn and Joe Lopez talk about what we can expect from the 2020 election season here in Tacoma. 

You can follow Evelyn Lopez on Twitter here.


Pierce County Auditor

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson does not fool around when it comes to maintaining public confidence during elections. The Auditor’s office has an excellent online communications strategy throughout election season and most importantly on election nights.

To keep up during all the exciting moments follow the Pierce County Auditors office here: 

 

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People We Love to Watch Talk Tacoma Politics on Twitter:

There are tons of politicians with accounts on Twitter, but honestly, unless it’s Tacoma election season most of them don’t spend very much time there.

Here are some local politicos who are the exception to that rule, as well as politically active Tacomans who always seem to be moving the conversation forward: 

Laurie Jenkins – Speaker of the House of Representatives 


Derek M Young – Pierce County Councilman


Bruce Dammeier – Current Republican Pierce County Executive (up for re-election)


Ryan Mello – Former Tacoma City Councilman now running for Pierce County Council


T’wina Nobles – CEO of @tacurbanleague (running in a tight race for the 28th Legislative District)


Chris Karnes – Transportation advocate


Silong Chhun – Came to Tacoma as a refugee from Cambodia, now a leading local voice

 


Erik Hanberg – Tacoma writer, Founder of Channel253 Podcast Network, MetroParks Commissioner


Evelyn Lopez – Local lawyer who is deeply engaged with local civics


Nate Bowling – Former Tacoma High School Teacher, Nerdfarmer Podcast Host, currently teaching abroad


The News Tribune – Tacoma’s Newspaper


KNKX FM – Tacoma’s NPR Affiliate


Channel 253 – Tacoma podcasting network

https://twitter.com/Channel_253/status/1210253154295537665?s=20


Melissa Santos – Political Reporter at Crosscut


Craig Sailor – News Tribune Reporter


Will James – KNKX Reporter


Sean Robinson – Journalist at large in Tacoma 


Kari Plog – Online Editor for local NPR affiliate KNKX

https://twitter.com/KariPlog/status/1311145909074288641?s=20


Florangela Davila – News Director Seattle-Tacoma KNKX


Ashley Gross – Youth and Education Reporter for KNKX


Twitter for the Pierce County Dems (Pretty much a ghost town)


Twitter for the Pierce County Republicans (Fairly active, ghost town recently)


This is by NO MEANS a complete list of who to follow on social media if you want to keep up with the 2020 Tacoma elections—literally every time we publish lists like this, someone tells us several great people we forgot. If you think we forgot someone great, please let us know and we will add them. Hopefully it’s a great start.

Everyone’s list is different, but following these folks will put you on the path to being more engaged and informed in what’s happening. 

Click here to read our blog post that’s all about “Who to Follow on Twitter When You’re New to Tacoma.”