Cities and towns around the state are struggling to find people to run for local boards.
Yet, in many towns, people of color are rarely tapped to run for those openings.
“The political environment isn’t built for underdogs, and it is not built for people of color and women to lead,” said Mayor Danielle Wong (D, Bloomfield), one of two Black women to serve as mayor in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has been trying to change that with Representation Matters, a program aimed at recruiting people of color and training them to run for office.
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“It's important for the community to hear from all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives,” CCM Deputy Director and COO Ron Thomas said.
The two-day program includes education on how to campaign – provided in partnership with the Yale Campaign School – and an overview of municipal government.
Local officials talk with attendees about what to expect if they win an election.
Connecticut In Color
“Trying to channel that passion into the way that local government works and functions,” Thomas said.
The program sees roughly 100 attendees each year, including some from out of state.
Thomas said the program stresses that people of color can have an impact at any level, even if they don’t run for mayor or a state- or federal-level office.
In fact, he and Wong agree the goal is to get more diversity at all levels. That can create a broad pool of candidates whenever a higher office opens.
“You have to build a bench – bipartisan, partisan whatever the case may be -- to really cultivate the pipeline and build an understanding of government,” Wong said.
Wong has been a speaker during Representation Matters, talking about her success in hopes that it inspires others to run.
“I was just a community member coaching soccer and, you know, years later I'm the mayor of the town in which I grew up,” she said.
Wong said people of color continue to face hurdles, but she still encourages them to run for an elected office in their communities.
She believes that’s the easiest way to push for change and help others.
“Like I always say: locally you have to be part of the system to change the system,” Wong said.
