Local Elections Matter

Our country is composed of a diverse network of states, cities, metro areas, smaller towns, and rural areas. In the last election 6,066 state legislative seats were up for election.  Do you know your state representatives?  After carefully analyzing potential state legislative elections I gave $25 to several candidates around the country including a Senate race in my state of Washington where the state Senate was under Democratic control by one vote. State legislatures are important to our diverse network of local communities making them critical to the health of our nation as whole.

At the local level politicians make a big impact on people’s lives. Unfortunately, many local leaders see their role not as partners in improving the lives of their constituency but in blocking public policy they see as part of a liberal agenda.  In this way the political divide plays out in local communities around the country.  These communities have gotten stuck the time before the tech industry leaving vast areas of our country behind in the new age of the tech boom.  Policies that promote inclusive economic growth in the digital age are further hindered by politicians promoting tax breaks building a climate of “Don’t Tax Me!” and “Government is nothing but big brother looking over my shoulder.”

State legislatures play a major role in limiting economic growth.  In recent years Republican controlled state legislatures have obstructed progress.  Laws preventing any chance of promoting inclusive economic growth have passed in theses states.  Laws such as outlawing paid sick and family leave; regulating fracking; LGBTQ rights; and increases in the minimum wage make cities and counties lame duck governments at the mercy of state law makers. These policies limit any grassroots organizing such as the $15 an hour minimum wage movement that in 2014 spread to 230 cities as workers demanded a $15 minimum wage and the right to unionize without fear of retaliation.  So much is at stake in our state legislatures we can not overlook these elections because they are important ways of using our vote for change.

States control voting systems too.  Voting suppression implemented by Republican controlled State governments have passed polices such as voter ID laws, gerrymandering, limiting absentee ballots, and moving or closing polling places.  These changes have been implemented by state Republican Attorney Generals.  These policies have led to the unjust voting system we have today but Republicans didn’t stop there.  The latest Republican tactic goes beyond the vote and centers in state legislatures in three states where a Democratic Governor won over an incumbent Republican governor.  In North Carolina a GOP controlled State legislature changed laws limiting the elect Democratic Governor’s powers making the state legislature more powerful.  In Michigan and Wisconsin legislatures followed suit changing laws to limit the elect Democratic governor. In a desperate move to keep Republican control in these three states the GOP controlled legislature went against the State Constitutions that define the division of power between the three branches of government.

These actions that changed basic US government’s philosophy of checks and balances in government did not just start here nor did it start when Donald Trump hinted during the 2016 election that he would not concede the election if Hillary won.  It started during the Obama era when Mitch McConnel would not hold hearings on a Supreme Court Judge, and as leader of the Senate he stated he would not approve any federal judges nominated by Obama. Since Trump was elected the Senate has approved a record number of Federal Judges, many have been called out by the National Lawyers Guild to be unfit.  How deep will this power grab go we don’t know.  It brings a sense of demise to our democracy on all fronts from our national government to our local communities. 

As President Obama said, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”  When we vote no matter how insignificant we see the candidate’s office we are voting so that the candidate can make changes to local polices to benefit us.  Local public officials are where the rubber of politics hits the road touching our lives in profound ways.  During the 2018 elections when voters came out beyond the standard 27% in past elections we seem to be moving in the right direction.  The media covered controversial elections such as the Florida and Georgia governor races, and the voter fraud allegations still in dispute in North Carolina.  This media coverage is helping us all get schooled on voting processes and how local elections can shape our lives.  I learned so much about local elections that have changed my perspective forever and hopefully all of yours too.