Stop Downplaying Local Elections

The midterm elections on Tuesday night were an emotional rollercoaster for many Americans. When polarization defines the political climate, our elected officials are growing in both their partisanship and in the extremity of their views. The results of the House, Senate, and Gubernatorial races left some in tears and others screaming with joy.

For me, the most exciting part of the night wasn’t when the Democratic Senator from my home state of Connecticut, Chris Murphy, got re-elected. It wasn’t even this morning when the news announced that Ned Lamont, an Exeter alumnus and former staff writer for The Exonian, was elected as Connecticut’s next Governor.

My excitement was for the victory of 22-year old Georgetown graduate Will Haskell, who hails from Westport, CT. Last spring, I found out about Will’s campaign for State Senate in my area, the 26th District. The Democrats had not nominated a serious candidate for six years and Toni Boucher, the Republican State Senator, had been in office for 22 years.

Not only did I agree with Will’s platform of common-sense gun regulation, improvements to roads and bridges, faster trains, and paid family leave, I admired the courage of someone so young going against the establishment. I worked as an intern for Will over the summer and got to know him personally. I returned home to Connecticut for Election Night to help work on the campaign for one more day and to go to the election party.

After hours of waiting, we finally got word that Will had won the race. Almost no one outside of the campaign believed that Will had the capability to win, but he beat the incumbent.

Yes, this story sounds like a cliché, but it’s far from it. State politicians have effectively galvanized the support of young people for years, often turning a single race into a larger movement. But this is typically seen only at the state level.

For those who follow politics, the most exciting races are often for the larger government positions. This has led to a political culture in which local politics are largely forgotten. Of course, there are many dedicated people who spend time running local campaigns, but, there are large numbers of voters who vote simply according to their party of choice, for local races in particular.

This climate is what led to Toni Boucher, a Republican who sat in office for 22 years and watched our district decline over the last two decades. State representatives retain an influence on the daily lives of citizens in their district and can have a greater impact on the lives of individuals than federal legislators can. Yet, we continue to forget about the races these state representatives partake in.

In his victory speech, Will thanked his family, friends, campaign managers, volunteers, and also the interns. He read each of our names out loud and said his victory would not have been possible without us. Though I went into the office frequently over the summer, there were countless other students who helped the campaign.

This campaign was an anomaly for sure, but winning Democratic underdog campaigns have a formula: garner young voter support and work harder than your opponent even thinks possible.

We see the positive results of this at the national level with the election of Ocasio-Cortez and at the local level with Will Haskell. The only difference is that local elections do not receive the attention they deserve. But, I can tell you through personal experience that working locally involves you in your community, keeps you informed, and, is even more rewarding than working for a huge national campaign. This is how change will happen, with people like Will Haskell and all of his volunteers at the helm.