After working at television stations in
Idaho, Woodward moved to
Spokane, Washington in 1990, where she worked for
KREM and
KXLY-TV. Woodward's campaign for mayor was initially managed by Eleanor Baumgartner, wife of Republican politician
Michael Baumgartner, and supported by incumbent mayor
David Condon. Despite being nonpartisan, Woodward was supported by a number of Republican-leaning groups, and she stated her opposition to
Hillary Clinton in the
2016 United States presidential election. On August 20, 2023, during her reelection campaign and after the primary election for the
2023 Spokane mayoral election, Woodward appeared on stage alongside
Sean Feucht and former state representative
Matt Shea at a
Christian nationalist prayer event hosted at
The Podium in downtown Spokane, which was part of Feucht's national tour of the United States. Woodward prayed alongside Feucht and Shea, and was prayed for while on stage by Feucht and Shea, which led to nationwide coverage as Feucht is a self-described Christian nationalist who has been criticized for
anti-LGBT rhetoric The fallout from Woodward's appearance at the event led to calls for her resignation On September 8, Woodward gave an interview to
KHQ-TV in which she stated her intention to "get ahead of [the controversy]" in which she denied knowing Shea would be part of the event and stated she did not previously know who Feucht was. Woodward stated she attended the event to pray for those affected by wildfires like the Oregon Road and
Gray Fire which had been burning around Spokane County at the time. Woodward lost her bid for re-election in the
2023 Spokane mayoral election and officially conceded on November 13, 2023. On July 19, 2024, Woodward filed a lawsuit against the city of Spokane seeking upwards of $1.4 million in damages, claiming that the Spokane City Council interfered in the 2023 mayoral election and violated her right to free speech by passing a resolution condemning her for her appearance on stage with Feucht and Shea. ==References==