Democrat · Washington's 10th District · 2026
Marilyn Strickland
Strickland was born in Seoul to a Korean mother and a Black American father serving in the Army.
Biography
Marilyn Strickland was born in Seoul to a Korean mother and a Black American father who served in the Army. She has described the racial hostility her parents encountered when the family moved to the American South in the 1960s, before she grew up in Tacoma.1
A graduate of Tacoma's public schools, she earned a sociology degree at the University of Washington, worked in financial services and completed an MBA at Clark Atlanta University. Volunteer work in the arts and with civic organizations helped lead her toward local politics.1
Strickland served on Tacoma's council, spent two terms as mayor and later led the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce before entering Congress.12 She became Washington's first Black member of Congress and was among the first Korean American women elected to the House.1 Her congressional work includes Armed Services and transportation policy, with district investments in housing, clean water, transit and community services.2
Her priorities include protecting Medicare, expanding renewable energy, building more housing and improving training for health care, teaching and construction careers. She also advocates legislation addressing military families' food insecurity and housing costs.3 The Democrat is seeking another term against Republican pharmacist Chris Chung, whose pharmacy career and earlier campaigns have emphasized health care, safety and education in the South Sound.45
Record and controversies
2011 travel gift findings
In 2011, Tacoma's Board of Ethics issued preliminary findings that Strickland's acceptance of a businessman's frequent flyer miles for an official Asia trip violated the city's gift rule.6 The board also found that the trip served an official purpose, that she would have taken it without the miles and that there was no evidence of preferential treatment promised or provided to the businessman. It did not find improper use of her position for personal gain.6
The board recommended an admonition and said the problem could have been avoided by having the council formally accept the donation for city travel. Its document allowed her to request a hearing before the findings became final.6 The later council disposition was not independently verified here, so this note does not present the preliminary recommendation as a confirmed final sanction.