Cyrus Donato (Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4, Washington, candidate 2025)
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Cyrus Donato ran for election to the Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4 in Washington. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
Donato completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Cyrus Donato provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2025:
- Birth date: May 30, 1987
- Birth place: Tacoma, Washington
- High school: Curtis High School
- Bachelor's: US Coast Guard Academy, 2010
- Graduate: Tulane Universtiy, 2021
- Military service: United States Coast Guard, 2006
- Gender: Male
- Profession: Transportation
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign website
- Campaign endorsements
- Campaign Facebook
Elections
General election
General election for Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4
Cyrus Donato and JT Wilcox ran in the general election for Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Cyrus Donato (Nonpartisan)  | |
| JT Wilcox (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4
Cyrus Donato, Dan Knox, and JT Wilcox ran in the primary for Port of Tacoma District Commissioner Board Position 4 on August 5, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Cyrus Donato (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Dan Knox (Nonpartisan) | |
| JT Wilcox (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Donato received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Donato's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.
- International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 751
- Washington Conservation Action
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Cyrus Donato completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Donato's responses.
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I am a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and served as a Coast Guard officer, including a tour as a deck watch officer conducting counter-narcotics and humanitarian missions in the Caribbean. I served at the Deepwater Horizon disaster response, overseeing the recovery of 1.5 million gallons of oil. I later served in New Orleans in a maritime regulatory compliance role. I spent eight years as Deputy Commissioner of Maritime Affairs with the Marshall Islands Vessel Registry, managing a global portfolio focused on vessel operations and international shipping oversight. Today, I serve as an Inspector with the International Transport Workers’ Federation, a London-based global union federation representing 20 million transport workers and am a member of the Marine Division of the ILWU. In this role, I enforce labor standards aboard foreign vessels, advocate for seafarers facing exploitation, and coordinate with federal agencies on human trafficking and abandonment cases. I continue to serve as a USCG Reserve Officer, supporting maritime safety and inspection operations throughout Puget Sound. I also serve on the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking. My grandfather died working on Tacoma’s docks. That legacy drives my commitment to family-wage jobs, fair labor practices, and public accountability. I have been honored to speak globally on issues of labor trafficking and maritime worker rights, the Boston Seafood Expo and at the University of Washington.
- Growing Cargo Volume and Union Jobs: The Port must remain competitive in a rapidly shifting global trade environment. I will focus on bringing new tonnage through Tacoma by strengthening terminal infrastructure, attracting sustainable maritime business, and ensuring that growth translates into living-wage union jobs for local workers.
- Infrastructure Modernization and Environmental Accountability: Many of the Port’s road, rail, and terminal systems need upgrades to reduce congestion and pollution. I will prioritize investments in clean technology, like shore power and emissions reduction, and ensure that industrial polluters are held responsible for cleanup costs, not taxpayers.
- Public Trust and Ethical Governance: The Port must serve the public, not private interests. I will work to close the Northwest Detention Center, ensure transparency in decision-making, and build stronger partnerships with labor, the Puyallup Tribe, and local governments. Voters deserve principled leadership that listens, leads, and delivers for all of Pierce County. The Port is at a pivotal moment. I believe it needs leadership that understands both the operational complexities and the human impact of maritime commerce—and that can help repair the increasingly fractured relationship within the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
I am passionate about public policies that protect workers, uphold the integrity of the maritime transportation system, and advance environmental and economic justice. My career has focused on enforcing labor standards, combating human trafficking, and ensuring that global commerce does not come at the expense of human dignity. I support modernizing port infrastructure to reduce emissions, expand family-wage jobs, and keep our region competitive in a changing economy. I believe public institutions must operate transparently and in partnership with labor, Tribal nations, and the broader community. Ethical leadership and strong enforcement are essential to a commitment to the marine transportation system and those who power global commerce.
An elected official must lead with integrity, humility, and a strong sense of public accountability. They should approach the role as a servant of the people, not as a career or a title. In the Coast Guard, this principle is known as servant leadership. It means that leadership begins with service to others and a deep responsibility to the mission and to the people who carry it out. The decisions an elected official makes should be grounded in fairness, transparency, and a commitment to the common good. Listening to the voices of the community, especially those who are often excluded or marginalized, is essential to governing responsibly. Most importantly, elected officials must remember they represent everyone in the community, not just those who voted for them. Leadership requires listening to all voices with respect and making decisions that serve the entire public. It is important to be present, assessable and admit when one is wrong. Public trust is not given. It must be earned through ethical leadership, accountability, and results that reflect the public interest.
I want to help restore public trust in port governance, strengthen labor protections, and bring greater accountability to an industry that often operates out of public view. I hope my work helps ensure that the Port of Tacoma remains a source of good union jobs, economic opportunity, and environmental responsibility for generations to come. I want to be remembered as someone who led with integrity, respected the voices of all community members, and made decisions that reflected fairness, transparency, and long-term vision. Most of all, I want to leave this world in a better place for my children.
Pierce County Central Labor Council; 27th Legislative District Democrats, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Senator Yasmin Trudeau, Pierce County Council Member Robyn Denson; Port Commissioner Kristin Ang; Tacoma Deputy Mayor Kiara Daniels; Tacoma City Council Member Joe Bushnell, Tacoma City Council Member Sarah Rumbaugh; Tacoma City Council Member Jamika Scott; Parks Tacoma Commissioner Pete Reyes, Former Representative Velma Veloria; Former Senator Jeannie Darnielle; Former Tacoma Deputy Mayor Anders Ibsen; Community Leaders: Troy Serad, Justin Camerata, Sean Walker, Nathe Lawver, Melissa Mallot
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Donato completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
