On the Ballot: Malinda Johnson for Portsmouth City Council

Malinda Johnson is one of 11 candidates running for three at-large city council seats in Portsmouth, Virginia. As a GoodParty.org Certified candidate, she has pledged to run an independent, people-powered, and anti-corruption campaign.

GoodParty.org spoke with Johnson about why she believes she is the best candidate for Portsmouth.

Malinda Johnson: A Candidate with Deep Community Roots

Malinda Johnson is a veteran with 26 years of military experience, including 13 years in the U.S. Army and 13 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. She has more recently served as a military recruiter. 

Johnson’s other roles include being a mother, a prayer minister at Grove Church, a track coach, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce for Portsmouth and Chesapeake, the National Urban League, and the NAACP.

Johnson said her background has prepared her well to serve the unique needs of her community.

“Anybody can come up here when it's time for the election and walk around, knock on doors, shake hands, and kiss babies. But if you're not really in the community and they don't know you in the community, it's just another name. That's the way people feel the politicians are looking at them,” Johnson said. “I was in the community as a recruiter. I was in the community as a coach. I'm in the community as a mother. I still have children in school here. I have children that have graduated and are in college in the area. I have children that are in the military, and I have people that I just put in the military and people that I tried to put in the military but they couldn't get in for one reason or another, but I still helped them do something with their life.”

Johnson said her main priority for Portsmouth is to increase transparency. 

Portsmouth’s city government has experienced some disruptions in recent years, with six different city managers appointed in the past two years. Johnson hopes to provide voters with an alternative to this status quo.

“Talking to the people in the community, what I'm getting is that they're tired of the same old, same old. My slogan is, ‘If you want somebody to listen, why don't you vote different?’” Johnson said. “Most of the people that are on the city council have been on the city council since I first got stationed in the area for the military almost 26 years ago.”

As an independent candidate, Johnson said she wants to be the change Portsmouth needs.

“Instead of sitting back and saying, ‘We need change, we need change,’ I want to be that change,” Johnson said.

A City Council Campaign Empowered by GoodParty.org

Throughout her city council campaign, Malinda Johnson has made use of GoodParty.org’s campaign guides, voter data, and text messaging support. She said GoodParty.org’s resources have helped her level up her campaign from the last time she ran for city council.

“This is my first time professionally running for office, having a good background, and a lot of that is thanks to organizations and platforms like yours,” Johnson said. “Reading your stuff helped me realize what I did wrong the last time I ran, and it gave me a blueprint. What most people that are thinking about running for office are afraid of or most intimidated by is that they don't have a guide on how to do it. Your organization has a nice step-by-step guide on how to run a successful campaign. I really like that and I've utilized it a lot.”