At the Kent Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday, Mar. 4, 2021, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph announced that she will be running for re-election in 2021.

Ralph made the big announcement during a question and answer period toward the end of her appearance as the main speaker at the event.

“So yes, I am running for re-election. Stay tuned,” Ralph told chamber CEO Zenovia Harris. “So I love getting to represent this city. It’s so important to me to take care of the place that has taken care of me my whole life and and even though this last year I tell you I did not sign up to lead a city in the middle of a pandemic, I could not be prouder of the community that we have and definitely want to continue to represent it.”

Candidates have until May 21 to file to run for office in the Aug. 3 Primary Election. The top two vote-getters then move on to the General Election on Nov. 2, 2021.

Here’s a video clip of Ralph’s big reveal:

Here’s a transcript of the announcement:

Zenovia Harris: One final question for you Mayor Ralph: I’m sure you knew this question was coming today and that question is – I’m going to read it as if I didn’t see it already – are you running for re-election this year?

Mayor Ralph: So yes, I am running for re-election. Stay tuned. There will be an announcement about the campaign coming in just a very short amount of time. So I love getting to represent this city. It’s so important to me to take care of the place that has taken care of me my whole life and and even though this last year I did I tell you we did not sign up to to to lead a city in the middle of a pandemic. I could not be prouder of the community that we have and definitely want to continue to represent it so.

Zenovia Harris: There you have it. Thank you, thank you. You heard it here first. Yeah, awesome.

Mayor Ralph: Before I let you wrap up, I would be remiss in not saying a huge thank you to our community and Economic Community and economic development Department. They have done Bill and Michelle are on this call but they have been working non-stop to make sure that we provide as much support as we can to our businesses. And they have done a spectacular job. They’re always available to support our business community and find ways to help you all through what’s going on. So just want to say a big thank you to them.

Zenovia Harris: Yes, I echo that – they answer the phone, Bill, answers the phone even on his day off, so I appreciate him. I’m just calling it like oh, you’re off today, no problem and he still finds a way to help me out. So I appreciate that. I’m definitely an advocate for commercial affordability and advocate for the business community and and making sure that we get through this pandemic. So mayor, I appreciate you today. I appreciate your time, your energy and what you’re doing for the community and we as the Chamber and the business community are really looking forward to a stronger, deeper, longer lasting relationship with the city. To ensure that this is a place where businesses want to come and start. I know we have some interest in coming over to the city, so I welcome all businesses to come. This is a great city to grow your business to build your business on and be with like minded aniverse very diverse community so we appreciate you and good luck with your re-election Mayor Ralph.

And here’s video of the entire luncheon, including networking amongst chamber members (total running time 1 hour 12 minutes; Ralph’s segment starts around 34:34):

For more information about the Kent Chamber of Commerce, click here: https://kentchamber.com.

Scott Schaefer

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...