A candidate running for the city council in Ridgefield, Washington, said she has been the target of racist harassment.
Maria Salazar said she didn’t expect her ethnicity would be an issue in her race for Council Position 2.
Courtesy of Maria Salazar
"I'm not running as a Hispanic woman. If I look at the demographics, that's not the demographics of my community," she said.
Ridgefield, a small town of about 6,000 people just north of Vancouver, is about 90 percent white.
Salazar, a 45-year-old former nurse, said she decided to run because she thought Ridgefield needed to do a better job managing its growth.
"I just felt there needed to be a fresh new voice. Our council is elderly, and Ridgefield is growing," she said.
Midway through the campaign, she began to notice her ethnicity was stirring conversation in town.
Then, she received an email questioning her legal status and what country she is from. Salazar was born in Texas, where her family has lived for 11 generations.
Her campaign signs started disappearing and one reappeared in her front yard, with the words "illegal" and a sexist slur written on it.
Salazar says her campaign signs started disappearing and one reappeared in her front yard, with the words “illegal” and a sexist slur written on it.
Photo submitted.
"We took it aside, and made sure that my young daughter who is eight years old didn’t see it. I was very hurt by it. Very very hurt by it,” she said.
Salazar said she reported the incident to the local police, who she describes as very responsive.
Ridgefield police Chief Carrie Greene said the incident was reported to police sometime during around Labor Day weekend.
Greene said they investigated the incident, but don't have any suspects.
She also said she hasn't seen hate or racially-motivated crimes in her more than eight years as an officer in Ridgefield.
"I haven't seen that in general in the community for race, ethnicity, color or even sexual orientation," she said.
Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow responded to the incident Monday.
"I certainly hope that any defacing that may have happened will stop," Onslow said. "Our city is a truly wonderful one in which to live in and we won't tolerate actions of that sort."
Ridgefield City Manager Steve Stuart posted a message online asking people not to deface or remove political signs.
"We’re asking all of you for your help to ensure the respect for individual people’s property and to support the democratic process to elect our community’s leaders,” he wrote.
Salazar said she suspects that anti-immigrant rhetoric from national political candidates may have been a factor in the harassment she said she's experienced.
Salazar said she loves Ridgefield and still hopes to represent the town.
She also said her experience has left her convinced that the local political scene does need a shake-up.
"It’s beyond just, being somebody that’s young," she said. "There needs some diversity brought into it as well."
Mayor Onslow disagreed that age should be a consideration in the council race.
"I doubt very much that one could find a more active council, one that is more dedicated or one that spends more time in their community," he said. "I don't look at age, but we all look at dedication to their community."
