All Politics is Local

A former Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, famously said that "all politics is local."  Today we salute our civil rights allies around the country who have been fighting hard for justice, and especially for voting rights, at the federal level.  We do not underestimate the significance of having allies and champions like Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke in key federal positions at the Justice Department.  But we believe the only way to maintain our hard won gains is to win more power locally.

As we argued in our January 6 update, our communities must step up, run and win more elected positions at local levels. We have the people and we have the votes to build a bench from local through state offices. Keeping the focus on these levels through 2022, we believe will  be critical to maintaining our gains at the federal level.

Today, as we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for justice, we’re taking the national Democratic Party to task.  We do so with affection; over the past several decades, the Democratic Party has become increasingly diverse while the Republican party has shrunk and become heavily white, older, rural and out of touch with the demographic realities of our country.  So how have they continued to hold so much power at every level of government?  Why are they making inroads even in local school board races?  We’re taking a hard look at what we need to do to correct this imbalance.

Over the past few decades Democrats have lost state legislative majorities and Governorships in a majority of states even as our electoral base grows.  Republicans now control 62 of 99 state legislative chambers after flipping the Virginia house of delegates.  Subsequent control of Congressional redistricting after the 2020 Census is expected to lead to losses of Democratic House seats despite the substantial rise in numbers of Latinos, African and Asian Americans. 

Wisconsin is a case in point.  The Republican controlled state legislature and Governorship led to gerrymandered Congressional districts that ensured Republican control of a majority of  the Congressional seats from the 2010 Census.   Even though President Biden carried Wisconsin, and a majority of the vote for Congressional and state legislative districts is Democratic, Republicans have overwhelming legislative majorities.  These majorities are being used to thwart demographic population shifts that should favor Democrats from 2020 Census reapportionment.  

In states where Republicans control the entire state government such as Texas and Georgia, the twin voter suppression tactics of anti-majority gerrymandering and voter suppression laws are unchecked.

How did this happen?  Over time, Republicans successfully invested in winning local races and used that to take over state legislatures, which in turn gave them the power to control redistricting in their favor after the 2010 and 2020 census.  It also created a Republican farm team of strong candidates for national office. 

For Democrats to win back a secure federal legislative majority, investments are needed to identify and support successful strong diverse candidates at the local level.  This includes local, county and state legislative offices.  

County offices are important because they include county clerks responsible for managing the voting process.  Maintenance of the integrity of voting is a critical nonpartisan bulwark against voter suppression.  Shifting demographics at the county level in suburban – exurban areas open opportunities for Democrats to win governance at the county level.  This includes clerks, Supervisors/ Commissioners, the basic functioning of local government.  Unlike legislative districts, County lines are not subject to gerrymandering.  Even county districts that are subject to gerrymander offer winning opportunities if diverse candidates run.  A national legislative majority depends upon a strong local foundation.

And here’s why this will be our strategic focus in 2022.  

Local offices are a fraction of the multimillion-dollar cost of running for Congress or Senate.  The number of votes needed to win at the micro local level are a fraction of the votes needed at the Congressional level.  This is a neighborhood-by-neighborhood strategy.  Winning at the local level means that local office holders can gain governing experience and build a community base to run for higher office. And, most importantly, it helps not just the candidates but the communities that support them, our communities, build political muscle.  

Clearly, investment into electing diverse state legislators expands the pool of viable future Congressional candidates.  Similarly, investing into diverse candidates for Local and County government offices creates an expanded experienced base for the state legislature. Forty-eight to 51 percent of members of Congress (Senate and House) are former state legislators ( NCSL.org).  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began his career as a New York state legislator prior to being elected to Congress. Forty-five Senators and 219 Representatives in the 116th Congress are former state legislators.  

Does this mean we won’t focus on any national races?  Not at all.  But national candidates have been a spectacular failure in red / pink and even blue states. (See Maine Senate race, Virginia Governor’s race). We need locally oriented candidates starting at the local office level.  Dumping national money alone into Senate and Congressional races is not a successful formula.

So here’s our 2022 plan.  

We will be selecting and announcing a geographic focus in the next few weeks. And yes, it will include a federal level candidate!  But we’ll be selecting carefully and also looking at new Diversity Pipeline champions at local and state levels in that same district.  We’ll connect with community groups, and particularly groups representing immigrants and people of color in the target area.  We’ll look at who is in the key election official positions.  And we’ll invest in these local campaigns that bring democracy more bang for the buck.  

We won’t be alone. There are some wonderful groups that have had this focus from the outset.  We’ll be looking at the wonderful Run for Something candidates.  We’ll continue alliances with Swing Left, Sister District and the wonderful grassroots groups affiliated with Indivisible Network.  And we’ll stay true to our mission: ensuring that any candidate we support commits to our Pipeline Pledge, to ensure they, too, are committed to a more diverse and representative pipeline of future candidates.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left us many words of wisdom.  We will remember his words today.  And we end this blog with this one quote:  At the heart of all that civilization has meant and developed is ‘community.’  Let’s all recommit to finding and building power in our communities today.