NPR

How A Liberian Refugee Got To Be A Montana Mayor

Wilmot Collins will be sworn in on January 2. His victory in the mayoral election in Helena has made headlines the world over.
Wilmot Collins, the next mayor of Helena, Montana, came to the U.S. as a refugee during Liberia's civil war. Refugees are "not bloodsuckers," he says. "We are not just here to consume the resources. We provide for the economy."

In a year of anti-refugee sentiment in many corners of the world (and especially in the U.S.), one former refugee and first-time candidate ran for office — and won.

Twenty-three years before Wilmot Collins became the mayor-elect of Helena, Montana, he was himself a refugee from Liberia. He stood in a long line at the port of Monrovia, Liberia, waiting for a cargo vessel to carry him away from the country's civil war.

Running on a progressive platform this November, Collins unseated a four-term incumbent in the capital city of

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