SUTA: Local elections help move our communities forward
Column: The Suta Slant
It is election day in New Jersey!
Election day always brings about excitement mixed with nerves, the force of history coupled with the possibility for the future. We feel ourselves in a moment so fundamental to the founding of our country and yet so forward looking.
This sense of history and future combine to make one day — the first Tuesday in November — saturated with meaning.
The American project works best when people participate: When people engage in politics, they take control of the government because they make sure the issues they care about matter to elected officials.
Oftentimes, off-year elections such as this one — where only state and local races are up for election without any federal election — receive little attention and little turnout.
This makes sense: Removed from the political climate that polarizes and enrages emotions, local elections feel calmer and so do not have the same sense of urgency as federal elections. Off-year elections offer a brief refuge from the national political climate, and instead they refocus the debate around policy issues and local needs.
In fact, off-year elections (local and state elections) have some of the most important political and legislative consequences. Local elections — for town council, school board, mayor—have the closest impact to our daily lives, while state elections set the priorities for state government and have impacts on what issues states take seriously, from criminal justice reform to environmental regulation, to affordability to a woman's right to choose.
Local elections must not be forgotten or undervalued.
Especially now. Our state and local government can make sure issues we care about keep moving forward.
If national politics do not address climate change, state government can. If the Supreme Court limits a woman’s right to choose, state government can protect choice here. If other states want to restrict voting, state government can ensure everyone has fair and equal access to democracy.
State government has the most impact on our lives and can center the issues we care the most about.
While I want to see everyone vote, regardless of whom they vote for, there are real consequences if Democrats lose New Jersey.
First, to be clear, let us remember some history. New Jersey has not reelected a Democrat to the governorship since the 1970s. New Jersey — blue New Jersey — has not had a two-term Democratic governor in 44 years.
This shaky history has some cause for concern, but perhaps even more worrisome, is how well Republicans have nudged into social issues — the “culture wars.”
His opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, wishes to undo that progress — not just on the policy level, but even the culture of New Jersey. Whereas Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) has made New Jersey a safe, open, inclusive space, Ciaterelli derails the teaching of “sodomy,” in public schools.
Ciattarelli has attempted to tap into the culture wars. I do not think we should systematically ignore these cultural issues, especially for electoral reasons, but I am unsure if the culture wars have had as big an impact on New Jersey as other states, namely Virginia.
But that issue — if Democrats (implicitly, also, progressive causes namely on the environment, social issues and economics) are losing the block that propelled President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to victory in the culture wars — would be mitigated if young people (Rutgers students!) voted.
It is why Murphy called in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to campaign with him at a recent rally on the College Ave campus. Sanders electrifies the young vote — the line to get in extended down George Street, the crowd was galvanized and the excitement for the election was palpable.
Young people have incredible power and we should put that power into action. If young people vote, if young people get excited, the issues that matter the most to us will move forward.
Murphy has done a remarkable job in moving New Jersey forward: clean energy to racial justice, healthcare to education. Murphy has moved this state forward— we cannot go back.
If we get out and vote today, if Rutgers students show up, if people who care about moving forward into the future show up today — Democrats will win. Then we can focus on the problems facing our country.
But, all of that depends on if we vote. If you have not already voted, either by mail or early — make sure you make your voice heard today.
As former Associate Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen.”
Richard Suta is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in English and political science with a minor in French. His column, "The Suta Slant," runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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