The 2023 local election cycle is here, and a lot of buzz from the national and statewide races midterms is still around. The media as always is focusing on national issues like healthcare, immigration reform, and gun control – but what about the current issues in your community? It’s easy for local issues to get drowned out by all the noise coming from national politics. But as someone who wants to make an impact on your town or city, this can be frustrating, and distracting. Here are some common mistakes we see candidates make when they lose focus on their community, and some tips to stay laser-focused and win your local election.
Focusing on national level politics for a local race is a losing game
I’ve seen many candidates in local races focus on national level politics for a local race, and there’s some wisdom to why they do it. The logic goes: if you can’t get the voters to care about your local issue enough to vote, then bring up the national issues that fire up the base.
It’s easy to understand the appeal of this approach; it feels like you’re getting more engagement from voters, and talking about issues that you hear on the news everyday. However, there are two big problems with this strategy: (1) it can isolate you from many potential voters and (2) focusing on national politics detracts from focusing on local issues that matter more than ever before in modern times of hyper-partisanship and media saturation.
Misinforming yourself about what’s important to your community
I know, it’s a lot of work to stay informed. But you can’t afford not to. You have an entire community relying on your ability to make decisions that are in their best interests and not just yours. If you don’t know what’s going on locally, how do you expect them to trust that you’re making good choices?
Here are some ways for keeping up with the issues:
- Read local newspapers and magazines, especially those written in your community’s local newspapers.
- Read online news articles written by reputable sources in your area or state/province/country where applicable.
- Attend any local organized event from sporting, to parades, current council meetings.
If all else fails, hit the streets and talk with voters about what they think is important so far as your local community issues go.
Focus on local issues that people agree on, and you can make a difference in
Focus on local issues that people agree on, and you can make a difference in.
Did you know that in 2019 local governments—cities, townships, counties, school districts, and special districts—spent $1.8 trillion.. that is a lot of money. There is so much going on at the local level, and it often impacts our lives way more directly than big nation issues. You can see a full breakdown of costs here!
There are so many impactful areas to focus your efforts at the local level. So, first you should do a lot of local research. Then, you should ask yourself several questions before choosing which issues deserve your attention:
- Are there any areas where I could make a difference?
- Do I have a plan to address the issue? If so, how would this plan work? What resources would I need? How much time will it take me to implement my solution? What problems might come up along the way? How will I handle them if they occur?
- Is this issue important to my community?
Let’s not lose track of what’s important to your community this election season.
You’re someone who cares about their community, and you want to do what’s best for people. So, focus on what’s going on in your own area—the things that affect people’s lives every day—and make sure you’re addressing those issues during this election season. The bottom line is that if you focus on the issues that really matter to your community, the rest will take care of itself.
Now that you have the resolve to focus on local issues, and spend time in your community it raises the question of: How? The answer is Vottiv. We have developed a local elections-centered platform to help you run your entire campaign.
Vottiv offers everything you need to run a successful campaign. Saving 100s of hours, and 1,000s of dollars. Running for office is hard — we make it simple.
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