Local elections affect people’s everyday lives. We all want police reform, but we have no clue who our Sheriff is. We want criminal justice reform but we have no idea who the prosecutor is.
It’s no surprise that voters claim to not informed about their local candidates platforms or even the local issues being debated because information is not easily available. That’s not by accident — it’s largely by design. Make no mistake — Local politicians fight to hold onto power just as much as Federal ones do. Local elections are far less regulated and those regulations vary widely from state to state. They can get away with pretty much encouraging the majority of their constituents not to vote by keeping the information about the elections, the candidates and the issues at hand within a small circle of regularly involved locals.
We always think the best way is to work from the top down, but honestly, I believe if we worked from the bottom up, not only would we see quicker progress, but that rapid progress would eventually force the hand of the House and Senate to move as well.
We need to be voting for people who can actually make the changes we want to see. If we support progressive local and state candidates, the federal landscape would change.
