Portland, Oregon, U.S.A — For the first time in my life, I will be able to vote in a presidential election. Along with 41 million of my Gen Z peers, I will cast a vote to determine the direction of our country for the first time.
But even as we focus on the presidential election to define the future of our country, I hope we can remember to magnify the down ballot races as much as we do the presidency.
We’ve already seen how these races affect people through loss of abortion rights with the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. In 13 states, abortion is fully outlawed. In others, there are bans on abortion beginning from six to 15 weeks.
And in 24 U.S. states, a women’s right to abortion is consecrated in the state constitution.
Without the leaders elected to roles as small as the mayor of a city or as large as the governor of a state, these bans would cease to exist. And measures in your state can affect everything from taxes to whether the state decides to change its voting system entirely.
In Oregon, measure 117 may allow ranked-choice voting during future elections if Oregonians like me decide they want to try something new. The race for secretary of state may affect how elections perform in your state. It may even determine whether your votes receive a recount in the next election.
These small ripples can affect the larger wave of political movements you support or oppose. Picking these leaders will create the changes we want at all levels of government.
The fall of abortion began with a reversed ruling in a court of appeals in Mississippi. Abortion may become a constitutional right in Arizona this year if proposition 139 passes. Other measures are shaping our country today, and frozen bans may stop in battleground states where each vote is fundamental.
Want to support candidates who follow your beliefs? Vote for them in local elections as well as the federal ones. Vote for them in races for school board, mayor, and district or council leadership.
Candidates elected into local government will become our future national leaders. Kamala Harris began her career as a district attorney in California. Prior to moving to the national stage, Pete Buttigieg began as a mayor in an Indiana town.
Almost every leader you see in national politics began with these roots. Many rose up the ranks to become the transformative leaders we see today. It’s these small elections on a national scale that shape the heart of our country.
Every national story you read on the news began as a local conflict in a small neighborhood. A school board controversy can grow into a national story with an article written by a major newspaper. Each U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit changing our lives became a large case because it slowly moved up the local and federal courts.
So when you look down at all the different leaders on your ballot, look up their names and their record. Remember to study them just as much as you study your presidential vote.
Because these votes transform our lives.
Dana Kim is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
