“All politics is local” is an adage that has stood the test of time, at least until recently. The theory has been tested in recent years. A conflict-driven media environment and a highly polarized national conversation has led to a growing distrust in our institutions at every level of government, and that distrust has unfortunately made its way to our local conversations and campaigns.
Nationalization of local elections is a slow but unmistakable trend. I have experienced this phenomenon personally as I have knocked on thousands of doors in the last three local election cycles. Running for Town Council in Rocky Hill, I have been asked to opine on Presidential candidates, abortion, immigration, and international relations.
As a well-informed citizen I do have my opinions on those issues, and when asked, I am happy to share them with the voters in our town. However, as a town councilor, my views on those topics are by and large inconsequential when compared to my positions on property taxes, schools, public safety, zoning laws, trash pickup, snow removal and other town services.
Public opinion surveys do support this notion. According to a recent Gallup Poll, Americans’ trust in local governments’ ability to handle problems (67%) continues to be much higher than trust in the federal government (37%). I would like to believe that this is the reason I have been elected three times to the Town Council, this time with the highest vote count among all council candidates.
That brings us to this recent November Election Day. As Rocky Hill’s surrounding towns of Wethersfield, Cromwell and Newington saw Democrats regain control of the town council and the mayor’s office, voters in Rocky Hill chose a different path. Republicans kept the mayor’s office and their majorities on the Town Council and Board of Education yet again, despite a strong Democratic advantage in voter rolls. The municipal election results in Rocky Hill are a great reminder that good old-fashioned knocking on doors, a compelling message, a respectful campaign and, above all, a record of good governance do matter.
Turnout however is rarely high for municipal contests. A lot of voters who are turned off by our national political discourse are also disengaging from local political participation. The four biggest cities in the state had a mayoral election this November, but none of them had even a quarter of voters show up to the polls. The turnout for the mayoral races in these large cities ranged from 13% in Hartford to 24% in New Haven. Voter turnout in my hometown of Rocky Hill was 38%.
In our system of governance, state and local government affects our daily lives in the most profound ways — arguably more so than the federal government. Residents are closest to their local leaders and that closeness fosters transparency, collaboration, and positive results.
All politics is still local, and rebuilding the trust in our governing institutions should start right here in our communities with higher voter participation and engagement.
Pankaj Prakash is Majority Leader of the Rocky Hill Town Council.
