From collection Candidates
In 1911 Anna M. Johnston was an "insurgent" candidate for Park Commissioner in Tacoma, Washington. She did not win the race for five-year term. Johnston was the first woman in the city to run for a non-educational office. Johnston was quoted as saying that "I'd rather go to a political meeting than to any social gathering." Johnston's two sons were grown by 1911 and she felt free from her home responsibilities, and so could get involved in politics. In the following year she served as ward judge of elections.
