Spokane local elections may matter more than presidential, say political science experts

SPOKANE, Wash. — Much of the focus during this election has been on who will be the next president, which can cause attention to drift from local races.

Ballots this year have a lot of races and therefore, a lot of information to grasp.

During the last presidential election, there were 1,592 undervotes, which happens when a voter doesn’t pick a candidate. For the District 2 commissioner race that same year, that number was at 19,755 undervotes, nearly 20 times higher.

Political science experts said it’s the local races that might actually impact you the most.

“At the local level when you only have a few hundred thousand or a few hundred people depending on the type of seat, one vote can make a difference,” said Whitworth University political science professor Aaron Hitefield.

It turns out political scientists have a name for this phenomenon: the presidential paradox.

“Which highlights that most people vote for the presidential election and not for local races, even though local races are the thing that impact your life the most,” Hitefield said.

Hitefield has been closely studying this election. He says local and state elections can impact nearly every aspect of your life.

“It impacts everything from your pocketbook, your wallet, to what kind of schools your kids go to,” he said. “Everything about your daily life is going to be impacted more so by local politics than by presidential politics.”

Hitefield points out that some races hold more responsibility than you might think, like the Lieutenant Governor who leads the state senate, or the Secretary of State who dictates the direction of future elections.

“Anything Washington State wants to peruse from a policy perspective, these offices are going to be voting on it, they are going to be signing it into law and they are going to be implementing it,” Hitefield said.

There are plenty of races to sift through on the ballot, which can be challenging at times. Hitefield recommends taking advantage of resources available for context on candidates and initiatives.