Today we live in a highly partisan nation where the electorate is constantly exposed to information on national issues. This national focus is largely driven by the rise of twenty-four-hour news networks, social media, an increasingly mobile society, highly funded special interest groups, and the demise of local newspapers. Entities that make money on providing news and opinion want to cover issues that affect the most people in order to draw more viewers or generate a greater number of clicks.
Since the 1930’s, the expression “All Politics is Local” was seen as an unassailable truth. However, with the mass migration of citizens to different areas of the country, and the decline of local news media, people have largely depended on what they have been given—news and opinion focused on national issues.
Because many people feel uninformed about local issues, they make the unwise decision not to participate in local elections. Turnout in non-Presidential election years is abysmal. And yet, the impact that local elections have on everyone’s day-to-day lives is significant. One has only to look back a few years to the differing responses to the COVID situation to see that who leads your local governments does matter!
The United States Has a Federal System of Governance
Often, we confuse the terms federal and national. The genius of the federal system of government that the Founders gave us is that power is divided between the national, state, and local governments.
Since the Civil War, we have seen power be consolidated to the national government based in Washington, D.C. Elites have subtly changed the term federal into a synonym for the term national.
The Founders established a system where the state and local governments were to provide a counterbalance to prevent the national government from becoming too big and too intrusive. If for no other reason, stopping the tyranny from D.C. is reason enough to be engaged in local elections.
Local Governments Touch Our Lives Every Day
The national and state governments do many important things, but they do not impact our lives on a day-to-day basis like our city and county governments. Numerous quality of life issues are controlled by local governments. Zoning, safety, utilities, roads, schools, and a host of other issues are decided locally. “It matters who governs” is true nationally, but even more so on a local level.
Turnout, Turnout, Turnout!
Because voter turnout is so low in so many local elections, mobilizing a relatively small number of votes can make a huge difference in the outcomes. A few hundred votes can often swing the results in a city council or county commission race. Often, the solution to bad governance is immediately at hand. Educate and motivate voters successfully, and a bad office holder may be removed.
Future Leaders
Another important reason to engage in local elections is that often local office holders rise to state and federal offices. Someone like Donald Trump, who went from businessman to President of the United States, is an anomaly. The path of Congressman Tim Burchett is much more common—rising through a succession of lower offices. Voting conservatives into local offices paves the way for conservatives to be elected to state and federal offices in later years.
Party Time
Finally, having just concluded the Knox County Republican Party reorganization convention a month and a half ago, it is important to note that voting tends to be habitual. Voting in local elections establishes a pattern of voting in all elections.
Making voting a habit helps one to be qualified as a bona fide Republican (which is defined as voting in three of the last four state primary elections). This is what it takes to be able to participate in the convention where the Knox County Republican Party leadership is chosen. I have seen firsthand the difference that party leadership can make.
In Conclusion
Voting and engaging in local elections isn’t important; it is CRITICAL if we are to move Knoxville and Knox County in a more conservative direction. Won’t you help make Knoxville and Knox County Great Again? I hope so! Get out and VOTE!
Martin Ammons is a founding member of the Conservative Republicans of South Knox County (District Nine) and the current Treasurer of the Knox County Republican Party.