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Melissa Sue Robinson (AP Photo/Jessie L. Bonner)
Melissa Sue Robinson is running for mayor of Nampa, Idaho, attempting to unseat a two-term incumbent. But the concern doesn’t seem to be that Robinson is a trans woman — assigned male at birth and transitioned to female — but that her politics might be too liberal for the small, conservative town.
Jessie L. Bonner of the Associated Press says:
This farming and manufacturing town of about 83,000 residents, where a sugar factory and a local hospital are among the biggest employers, doesn't seem to be all that concerned that Robinson previously lived as a man. But they are scratching their heads that a newcomer, a non-Republican, would run for mayor.
Robinson is a Democrat and the first trans person to run for the state legislature in Michigan, so she has a history in politics. She also ran for mayor of Lansing in 2003.
But whether she wins or loses, her visibility in Nampa will likely change some minds about trans people. And there are definitely some liberal citizens who are looking for a change.
According to the AP article, the Idaho state Department of Labor last month said that one out of every eight workers in Canyon County, where Nampa is located, did not have jobs, and the unemployment rate had climbed to 11.9 percent — higher than the statewide rate of 8.8 percent, which was at a 26-year high.
Lifelong Nampa resident Gerald Walton-Grice, says, “It’s time for a change”
And about the candidates, he says, "I don't care if they're gay, straight, transgender, red, yellow or purple. It doesn't matter."
Hopefully, other voters will feel that way as well, and will vote on the issues and the competence of the individual candidates.
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