Down-ballot races should be at the top of your mind

“[N]ot voting down-ballot for state and local representatives and not voting on local issues — school bonds and referenda and funding for police and social services — means wasting an opportunity to have the broadest impact possible,” the U.S. Vote Foundation wrote.

Most people have far fewer interactions with the federal government than they do with their local and state governments: Local transportation, schools, police, firefighters, sanitation services — the everyday services you use that are provided by the government — are mainly the work of local politicians.

Local and state politicians are also our future national politicians — most politicians are career politicians, aside from the rare Trump-esque political establishment outsider. So the next time you complain about horrible federal election candidates, remember that politicians gain traction for those races by building a base during down-ballot elections.

If you don’t participate in those elections, local decisions are made by small groups of people who end up deciding not only local politics but future state and federal government officials as well. As the U.S. Vote Foundation points out, “National leaders usually don’t grow on trees.”


https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/28/down-ballot-races-should-be-at-the-top-of-your-mind/