How do we attract diverse candidates?

Gazette Editorial Board

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Iowa City is one of Iowa's most culturally and ethnically diverse communities in a state that is gradually attracting more diversity.

But after next month's election, you won't know that by the makeup of the City Council. No matter who wins, the next council will be significantly less diverse than the one now in place.

White men make up eight of the 10 people running to fill council seats held by Ross Wilburn, a black man, Regenia Bailey, a woman, and Mike Wright, a gay man.

It's not a unique problem - many other communities, including Cedar Rapids, have trouble attracting women and minority candidates to city council and other government positions.

But diversity on local legislative bodies such as city councils and school boards can significantly affect the equity of local policies.

We thanks the 10 candidates who have stepped forward to run, offering voters a choice among their experiences and opinions. But diversity of perspective is limited, in part, by candidates' similar demographics.

Even if other board members are sympathetic, minority candidates recognize inequities more often and in a different way, researchers say. Sometimes, the simple presence of diverse representatives can change the tone and content of discussion.

The holdup isn't at the ballot. Research and election results consistently show that voters will consider any qualified candidate at the polls.

The problem in many Iowa communities is that voters don't have a diverse pool of candidates.

That shows in election results: Statewide, there are three male city council members for every one female council member in the state. Male mayors outnumber females by more than 9 to 1, says the Iowa League of Cities.

At the state and federal level, too, Iowa's pool of elected representatives shows an alarming lack of diversity - a problem with roots at the local level where candidates build experience and gain supporters for a leap to higher office.

Iowa's 84th General Assembly is actually less diverse than the previous session; we have yet to elect a woman to the U.S. Congress or the office of the governor - virtually the only state in the nation that has yet to do so.

A good deal of the problem is in candidate recruitment, experts say. But Wilburn, Iowa City's first black mayor, and Wright told a Gazette reporter they tried and failed to recruit diverse candidates to run. Bailey has long recruited female candidates for office.

It appears there's no easy solution. Perhaps it's this simple: Minority and woman candidates should step up, offering to serve and give voters a chance to elect a council that more closely represents the city's diversity. And more grass-roots support across the community could encourage their participation.

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