Washington Initiative for Boys and Men wants to see greater societal empathy for boys and men and less gender-based prejudice against them.
This blog post is about a man, Kong Lefeau, and a woman, Iris Guzman, who are running for political office against each other. The man is a convicted felon. In sharing the three series of facts below, we are not endorsing any candidate.
About convicted felons in Washington state
- Men vastly outnumber women among people with felony convictions in their pasts. (The are statistics about this at the bottom of this post.)
- People with felony convictions are not restricted from running for and holding public office. The State of Washington restores their voting rights immediately when their imprisonment ends.
About Kong Lefeau
- When Kong Lefeau was 19 years old, he shot and killed someone. A jury sentenced him to 28 years in prison for the crime of murder. He expressed remorse during the trial.
- Kong completed his prison sentence in 2016. He received job training and started a career.
- Kong is running for SeaTac City Council Position 6 against Iris Guzman and incumbent Pam Fernald.
- A post on Kong’s campaign website [no longer active] acknowledges his past, saying, in part, “I just want all to know that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel a deep sense of sorrow from my actions. But in the same breath I want to express that I am no longer that misguided kid. I have grown up and now have a second chance to show the world that change is possible and that there is a certain amount of redemption after a life of incarceration.”
- Kong Lefeau is American Somoan.
About Iris Guzman
- Iris Guzman is running for SeaTac City Council Position 6 against Kong Lefeau and incumbent Pam Fernald. She is a social worker who says she “sees firsthand the needs of BIPOC…families in SeaTac”. (BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
- In a public Facebook post promoting her campaign, Iris referred to Kong as a man who “murdered someone in cold blood for which he spent 25 years in prison.” (screenshot provided below)
- A different public Facebook post by Iris features a photo of two signs promoting political campaigns. One sign is for her campaign and the other is for the campaign of Shukri Olow, a woman running for King County Council. Iris’s caption for the photo says, “Sisterhood!” (screenshot provided below)
Read related WIBM post: Chairperson of King County Council rejects idea of a Men’s Commission: ‘Men don’t face systemic discrimination, Women do’
Washington state criminal justice statistics
Statistics about juvenile offenders in Washington:
- Boys are 78% of people sentenced in criminal courts as juvenile offenders (2020, Washington State Caseload Forecast Council)
- Boys are 91 % of admissions to juvenile rehabilitation centers (2018-2020, Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families)
Statistics about imprisoned people in Washington:
- Men are 87% of people in city and county jails (2020, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs)
- Men are 94% of people in state prisons (2021, Washington State Department of Corrections)
- Washington State courts issue 80% of felony convictions to men (2020, Washington State Caseload Forecast Council)