Marilyn Strickland
Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat who has represented Washington's 10th congressional district since 2021 and was previously mayor of Tacoma, faces Republican Chris Chung in the 2026 general election after the top-two primary.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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- Born
- September 25, 1962
- Birthplace
- Seoul, South Korea
- Education
- Mount Tahoma High School
University of Washington (Bachelor of Arts in business)
Clark Atlanta University (Master of Business Administration)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Marilyn Strickland was born on September 25, 1962, in Seoul, South Korea, to Inmin Kim, a Korean, and Willie Strickland, an African-American serviceman.
The family moved to Tacoma, Washington, in 1967 after her father was stationed at Fort Lewis, and she was raised in Tacoma's South End neighborhood, where she attended Mount Tahoma High School.
Strickland earned a Bachelor of Arts in business from the University of Washington and later a Master of Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University. She is married to Patrick Erwin.
Career
After graduating from the University of Washington, Strickland did clerical work at Northern Life Insurance, and after her MBA she joined Starbucks as a manager of its online business before helping to launch the City of Tacoma's public broadband cable service, Click!.
She served two years on the Tacoma City Council and was mayor of Tacoma from 2010 to 2018, the first Asian-born elected mayor of the city and the first African-American woman in the office. She then served as president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Strickland left the chamber in early 2020 to run for the 10th district seat being vacated by Denny Heck, placing first in a 19-candidate primary and defeating Democratic state representative Beth Doglio in the general election.
She took office on January 3, 2021, as the first member of Congress of both Korean and African-American heritage and the first African-American member elected from Washington.
She sits on the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in December 2024 she was elected secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 119th Congress.
2026 race
Marilyn Strickland is the incumbent in Washington's 10th congressional district, which is based in Olympia and stretches to the southern Seattle metropolitan area, including Lakewood and Puyallup. She was reelected with 58.5% of the vote in 2024.
In the 2026 top-two blanket primary, Strickland placed first with 47.3% of the vote, and Republican Chris D. Chung, a Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner in 2024, placed second with 31.4%. Democrats Alex Scheel and Adam Arafat followed with 10.3% and 9.4%.
Strickland and Chung meet in the general election on November 3, 2026.