Forgotten Local Elections

Not Just Every Four Years

There is always a flurry of excitement surrounding the Presidential elections every four years. The media buzzes with reports on both candidates, famous people endorse one or the other, and others are encouraging everyone to register to vote so they can participate in the election. It is a time charged with political conversations, debates, campaign ads almost every commercial break on television (or running on Youtube). This is because it is your chance to have a say in how our country is run, and you have to vote! I do believe in voting, make no mistake, but I would like to remind people that there is more to politics than just the Presidential election cycle.

Elections happen every year in some form of the other. It might be something as simple as city council or mayor, or state general assembly and state senate. Of course, there are the mid-term elections for Congress and Senate that happen in between Presidential elections. ALL of these elections matter in the grand scheme of things. They are, in many ways, even more important to a person’s day to day life than the Presidential election.

Locally elected officials are the ones who have the greatest impact on a person’s day to day life in their community. They create the policies of city, county, and state that govern their life. I will use the Abortion issue as my example. When Roe v. Wade was overturned it sent the abortion issue back to the states to create their own rules. Those states each took different stances based on the makeup of their governing bodies. Some took steps to protect women’s access to abortion while others took steps to not only strip the right away - but criminalize them under any circumstances. Those decisions were made by persons elected in the often neglected local elections.

Many states have been passing laws to make it harder to vote. It is the persons elected in local elections that are passing these laws. The President doesn’t have a thing to do with the state law of Kentucky or Washington State. The US Congress and Senate have nothing to do with the laws of Florida or Virginia. The state legislatures are the ones who make those laws. The federal government only becomes involved if a law is challenged and that challenge makes its way through the judiciary system to the United States Supreme Court. Otherwise, we are at the whim of our state governments - the General Assemblies and State Senate as well as the Governors.

We also hear about third party candidates every four years, too. Unfortunately, the Presidential election is not the place to try to make a third party bid if someone wants to be successful. Well, it isn’t the place to -start- one, at least. Third party candidates stand a much better chance at winning in the minor, city and state elections. They can then use that position to begin to gain the recognition they would need to make a successful bid for higher office. If one were trying to establish a third party into a viable option within our political system, starting with city and state governments would be the place to start gaining traction. Coordinating the candidates in selected communities and spreading out from there makes more sense than leaping into the Presidential candidate without any support or reputation. Well, at least to me it makes more sense. I’m not a politician nor do I ever want to be one.

EVERY election matters. Change, REAL change, starts at the bottom and works its way up. It doesn’t come from the top down, and we need to begin to realize this and act accordingly. If we want change we need to change the way our cities are run, we need to change the way our states our run, and by doing that we change the course of our our country is run. This doesn’t mean ignore the Presidential election! It is vital to vote, especially in THIS election. This means vote in EVERY election, EVERY time, EVERY year. It doesn’t matter how ‘minor’ the role seems to be. The person you put into place as a city council member or mayor could be the next President eventually. It could be the beginning of a genuine, viable, third option in the major elections.