Sulma Arias pursues write-in campaign for mayor

Sulma Arias, the executive director of Kansas People’s Action and Sunflower Community Action – nonprofit groups that work to mobilize Latino and African-American communities throughout the state – is pursuing a write-in campaign for Wichita mayor.

“It’s not about winning an election. It’s about galvanizing, mobilizing and engaging the community to have voice in this city,” she said.

A few weeks ago, the groups, which lobby for racial and economic justice and neighborhood issues, held a forum with mayoral candidates Jeff Longwell, City Council member and print shop owner, and Sam Williams, a retired advertising executive.

“The community expressed their agenda and issues of concern over immigrants not feeling welcome in the city, that the voices of immigrants are not taken seriously, issues with police and the lack of economic opportunities, particularly among African-Americans,” Arias said.

She said group members were disappointed in the answers given by Longwell and Williams, who advanced from a field of 10 in the March 3 primary.

After the forum, members urged Arias to pursue a write-in campaign, she said.

Arias said she has not run for office before.

“It was not one of my aspirations,” she said. “It would be a miracle (to win), but for us, it’s the process that’s important. I’m a very capable woman and if elected, of course, I would run the city for everyone.”

Arias said other important issues to tackle at city hall include Wichita’s deteriorating infrastructure, water and public transportation.

In her role at Sunflower Community Action, Arias has been a vocal opponent of Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s stance on voter ID laws and his comments last fall that implied President Obama’s executive action on immigration could lead to ethnic cleansing. Kobach said liberal news sites took his words out of context and twisted their meaning.

In a previous article, Arias noted that Kobach was one of the authors of a controversial Arizona law that requires police officers to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is reasonable suspicion the person is in the country illegally. Critics say the law encourages racial profiling.

Arias emigrated from El Salvador to Kansas when she was 12. She graduated from North High School and attended Friends University, studying organizational management.

She was campaign director for National People’s Action immigrant and worker justice program, which included 12 organizations in 10 states. She was a founding member of the Immigration Organizing Committee, now known as Fair Immigration Reform Movement.

For more information on her campaign, visit www.facebook.com/sulmaariaformayor or www.sulmaformayor.com.

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Sulma Arias pursues write-in campaign for mayor."