VOTE LOCAL

Most people are familiar with the term "buy local," referring to supporting small businesses, farms, or industries in your local area instead of giving your business to a big corporate company headquartered on the opposite side of the country. Well, this November, let’s consider a new term: "Vote Local."

Off-year elections always have a lower voter turnout than the more glamorous midterms and certainly a presidential election year, but the off years are when many local changes are made. Local changes on your city council, or your school board, or even the mayor’s office. That’s why you always want to stay abreast of what is going on in your local community. Keep your hand on the local pulse. Believe me, I understand the constant barrage of information about what is happening in the other Washington, but especially in years like this, try to keep your focus on what your vote has the power to change. Agree or disagree with what is happening in Washington, DC, this year, local matters. What could your vote change right outside your door, not on Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are a plethora of city and county council seats up for grabs all over the state, as well as a few special elections for the state legislature. Keep it local. Think about what you would like to see change within a few miles of where you live. A city council member will be much more helpful in that situation than anybody in DC. Whether you live in Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, Pullman, Yakima, Spokane, or any other town or city, you will have the chance to Vote Local in November. Make your voice heard and change something at home.

Ballot Initiatives and Voter Turnout

Another aspect that is often not considered about the importance of just the voter turnout itself in the odd-year election cycles is how this voter turnout affects the ability for ballot initiatives. Let me explain a little bit. Ballot initiatives have become an ever more popular political tool not just in Washington State, but across the entire United States. Why? Because just like in DC, many local and state governments are gridlocked about what to do and how to vote. We are becoming increasingly polarized, not just nationally, but locally. Thirty-eight states—38—have what is called a “trifecta government.” A trifecta government is when one party, either Democrat or Republican, controls the governor’s office, both chambers of the state legislature, and the majority of state executive offices. Just as our government in Washington is a trifecta for Democrats, Utah or Tennessee, for example, is a trifecta for Republicans. This growing polarization is leading to an increased use of ballot measures. Where am I going with this with regard to voter turnout? Generally, the required number of signatures for an initiative to appear on a ballot the following November is a percentage of the last mayoral election turnout. When do a large portion of mayoral races happen? In off-year elections.

Does this sound familiar? Think back to November 2023 in Tacoma when the Measure 1 rental housing policy initiative was on the ballot. That was put on the ballot with just about 5,500 signatures. Why? Because of the abysmal voter turnout in the 2021 Tacoma mayoral election. All this to say, these elections have an impact on more than just the candidate that is elected. This can have a domino effect in the future outside the realm of elected officials.

So now I have written my long-winded treatise: Vote Local.

If you would like some assistance and guidance on candidates RHAWA believes will work for the interests of rental housing providers, check out the RHA PAC Voter’s Guide at RHAwa.org/PAC. Be sure to check out the RHAPAC Voter Guide for not only our endorsed candidates, but all candidates that will support housing providers across Washington. You will notice the list is not incredibly long. That is because we take endorsements very seriously and do not give them lightly.

For all election coverage and results, stay with RHAWA on social media, YouTube, and the December issue of CURRENT.