I recently spent an evening helping some friends who are local political candidates and went home feeling cautiously optimistic despite the overwhelming negativity surrounding so many of our city and school board elections this year.
A bunch of us, mostly women, gathered at the home of one of our city commissioners. She’s running for re-election and is mentoring a rookie candidate who also hopes to serve on the commission. There were stacks of campaign materials, pizza and adult beverages, some jokes about the full moon and this “coven” of savvy females, and then we buckled down to work.
As we collated 5,000 pieces of campaign literature for two smart, hardworking women I’m proud to call my friends, I heard several conversation threads. The rookie candidate said she’d had mostly positive door-knocking visits; a couple of the volunteers hadn’t seen each other for ages and caught up on family and work news; others talked about how their kids’ school year was going. And of course, we talked about local politics and issues.
As with any group of politically aware friends, there was conversation about the merits and motivation of the large number of candidates running for office in our community. We have nine folks running for three spots on the city commission and our local school board race required a primary to narrow the field of candidates from 10 to six for three positions. Our town hasn’t seen this level of interest in running for office since the mid-1990s. The local newspaper (thank goodness we still have one) and radio stations will soon see a flood of ad purchases. Marketing firms, yard sign printers and political consulting gurus have no doubt picked up lots of business over the past several months. Yeah, local economy!
Of course, we mostly have the COVID-19 pandemic to thank for this abundance of candidates. Similar situations are playing out across Kansas as incumbent commissioners and board members work to keep their seats while their opponents, concerned about what their elected folks did or didn’t do to respond to the public health emergency, decided to throw their hats in the ring and challenge the status quo.
I imagine many of today’s incumbents look back on the traditional local arguments over property tax increases, roads and bridges, school bond issues and high school mascots with relative nostalgia. Remember the days when almost no one showed up at your board meetings? I don’t, either…
You adopted a mask mandate for your city or school district? Outrage! Didn’t adopt a mask mandate? Outrage! Are you requiring students to quarantine after being in close contact with a COVID carrier? Outrage! Aren’t requiring quarantines? Outrage! And let’s not even mention vaccinations or CRT…
At my friend’s house, many of us were concerned about our country’s inability to have a civil conversation about just about anything; the influence of national organizations and their money on local races; and what these challenges might mean not only for our community elections but also for the statewide elections next November.
Some of us worried that candidates with little interest in public service but lots of “Facebook University” knowledge will be elected and take our community in a negative direction. Others worried about the influence of backward-looking candidates at a time when so many of us long to plan for a brighter future. Another group worried about the potential loss of valuable employees if the current chaos plaguing local governing bodies continues.
Despite these challenges, I left that recent gathering inspired by my friends who’ve made the decision to step up and run for election or re-election in these turbulent times. They believe they have the skills and talents to make our community a better place to live and they’re willing to brave the risks that come with the “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” mentality that’s infected our local and national political discourse.
I went home feeling proud to be one of the volunteers who support good governance. I’d urge you to look for some similar opportunities. Are you an eagle-eyed proofreader? Volunteer to help a local candidate improve their handouts. Don’t want to go door-to-door? That’s fine; candidates need help with their social media messages, developing their ads, or writing postcards. Haven’t found a specific candidate to work for? You could volunteer to work at the polls instead.
I hope voters will take the next few weeks to learn as much as they can about local candidates before the November 2 election. (And don’t forget; early voting begins October 13!) Candidates are out knocking on doors, and they really do want to hear voters’ concerns; take this chance to find out where they stand on the issues that matter to you. There’s usually a political forum or two to take advantage of. Local newspapers and radio stations frequently conduct candidate interviews. The excuse that “I don’t know enough about the candidates or the issues” doesn’t hold water anymore.
City and school board elections are typically decided by the few hundred or few thousand people who turn out to vote in years that don’t feature a Presidential election or statewide races like Governor or the state legislature. Let’s all make our voices heard.
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