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Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson running for Spokane City Council President

Spokane City Council Member Betsy Wilkerson speaks to a crowd gathered June 19, 2022, at Praise In the Park, an ecumenical church service to celebrate Juneteenth at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in East Central Spokane. (Jesse Tinsley/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Emry Dinman emryd@spokesman.com(509) 459-5472

Spokane City Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson is running for Council president, a position currently held by political ally Breean Beggs.

Though Wilkerson had not formally announced as of Thursday night, campaign website betsywilkerson.com makes it clear with the banner: “Betsy Wilkerson for Council President.” The two-term council member also invites the public to a “special announcement” at 11 a.m. Friday at the Carl Maxey Center.

Beggs, who has not formally announced plans for re-election, says he looks forward to making those plans clear Friday as well.

Wilkerson’s term representing District 2, which contains most of the city south of the Spokane River except for downtown, doesn’t expire until 2025. If elected to serve as City Council president, her replacement would be appointed by a majority vote of the remaining members of the City Council.

This will be Wilkerson’s first competitive election.

Wilkerson was first appointed to the Spokane City Council in 2020, filling a seat vacated by Beggs when he was elected president. When she was sworn in, Wilkerson was the first Black member on the council in nearly 20 years, and only the second Black woman to ever serve on the council.

If elected, Wilkerson would be the first Black City Council president.

She won re-election in 2021, though she ran unopposed after her general election opponent Tyler LeMasters was disqualified for not meeting residency requirements.

Wilkerson will face at least one opponent in the coming election. Kim Plese, a former small business owner who ran unsuccessfully last year for a seat on the Spokane County Commission, announced her bid to become City Council president in February.

Before Wilkerson’s appointment to City Council in 2020, she touted a lengthy professional resume, including owning Moore’s Assisted Living, a residential care facility for the mentally ill, since 1993. Wilkerson is also deeply rooted in the local nonprofit world, serving as president of the board at the Carl Maxey Center in the East Central Neighborhood and previously as a member of the board at the Innovia Foundation.