PSA: don't forget your local candidates

[anotheranon]

Given that I'll be away on Election Day, I applied for and got my absentee ballot. This afforded me the luxury of being able to go online and research every candidate and issue as I went along.

I'm not going to advocate for or against any particular candidate (if you know me you probably have a good idea who I voted for and why), but I am going to point out - don't get so blinded by the presidential campaign that you lose sight of local candidates - board of education, circuit judges, and the like. They appear on the tee vee a lot less but can affect your life a lot more in some ways.

My particular "thing" is BoE candidates - I think education is important and I want to know who is influencing school priorities and why.

Comments

[fencerchica.livejournal.com]

Agreed! But gosh, it's frustrating how tough it can be to find out much about the BoE candidates if you're not a parent. I've usually ended up calling PFLAG's local chapter and asking them what their recommendations are. They don't seem to issue official endorsements, but usually I can reach a knowledgeable person who's in a position to know more than I and who'll share their personal recommendations.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Yes - it IS frustrating because most of the media coverage (mainstream and non) focuses on the more "glamorous" national races.

Your calling PFLAG is probably a more effective one than I had, which consisted of Googling each candidate. Most of what I found was vague "politico-speak", but I did find one BoE candidate who said she'd let the county comprehensive sex ed stand, so that's good.

I'm not reluctant to leave a vote blank if I don't know enough about the candidates, but I hate doing it!