Is this Tri-Cities school official running for governor? Social media accounts offer hints
Semi Bird, a Richland School Board member who made waves earlier this year by voting to defy Washington’s indoor COVID mask mandate, appears to be planning a run for governor.
Social media accounts created on Facebook and Twitter say the first-term school board member is considering a 2024 run for the state’s executive office.
The Facebook account reads: “Semi Bird for Governor of Washington.”
If it’s true, an announcement was possible this week. Bird was the keynote speaker Friday, Nov. 11, at a Veteran’s Day event at the Washington State Capitol Building Rotunda in Olympia.
The event was being sponsored by America First PACT and Contract With Washington — both organizations that support conservative Republican candidates for office.
Kellyanna Brooking, a young conservative activist and local political pundit, tweeted that people should “be in Olympia, Washington for a HUGE announcement. Change is coming and it’s time to answer the call.”
She previously told the Tri-City Herald in a recent profile that she was going to work as a youth campaign advisor for “somebody locally who’s running for governor.”
The campaign website birdforgovernor.com has been “parked for free” by GoDaddy.
Bird would likely run for governor as a Republican. If elected, he would be the first Black man to assume the office — and the first Republican in four decades.
He didn’t immediately return a phone call about his plans.
Military roots
Bird was elected to office on the Richland School Board last year, riding a wave of conservative candidates dissatisfied with COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements put in place to keep the public safe.
He’s a political newcomer and had no public service prior to running for the board.
Their vote in February to preemptively defy Washington’s indoor mask mandate and make “masks optional” in Richland classrooms sent shock waves throughout the community, leading to an Open Public Meetings Act lawsuit and a recall effort that is awaiting review in the Washington state Supreme Court.
Bird has previously said he stands by their decision and thought it was the right one at the time.
Bird is a U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Special Forces Green Beret veteran who received several leadership accolades and honors during his service. He also previously worked as the federal director of training and leadership development at the U.S. Department of Energy.
He is founder and executive director of Team Concepts Training and Consulting, which offers business-to-business leadership development and coaching.
He also is a public speaker, who’s been the keynote at several recent military, veteran and conservative events.
In speeches, he highlights his military background, the beginning of his life in the “ghetto of the inner-city,” who was raised by a single mom and worked to surmount obstacles to find the “American Dream.”
Washington 2024
In order to win a statewide seat, Republicans have to make inroads with some of the 1.3 million registered voters in King County.
Gov. Jay Inslee road to a historic third term in 2020, beating out former Eastern Washington police chief Loren Culp by more than 500,000 votes.
It’s unclear if Inslee, who cut his teeth early in his political career on the east side of the state, will run for a fourth term.
But Republican candidates from King County have made promising runs for the governor’s mansion in recent decades.
Rob McKenna, the former state Attorney General who challenged Inslee for the open seat in 2012, fell short by just 3 percentage points.
Former state Sen. Dino Rossi, who represented parts of Seattle, came within a 100-vote knockout of taking the executive office in 2004. The seat that year was being vacated by Gov. Gary Locke. It’s since been called the “closest governor’s race in U.S. history.”
