Read This: Five reasons to vote in the midterm elections

We are just 26 days away from midterm Election Day, so let’s spend the next few weeks getting ourselves and everyone we know ready to vote.

Voters usually turnout more in Presidential elections than they do in midterm elections. For example, 66% of voters cast a ballot in 2020’s Presidential election and 64% in 2024, but only 46% voted in the 2022 midterms!

That’s a problem because midterm elections decide local and statewide leaders, including the people who make decisions about our schools and state laws, as well as the direction our cities and counties will take. Midterms also decide who represents us in Congress. All of these positions impact our daily lives just as much as the President does, often even more.

Here are five reasons why voting in midterm elections, especially local races, is important:

1. Turning out voters for local races in the midterms automatically helps the more visible national races. Bottom line, we need more people voting for every race. If people are excited about voting for local races because they care about the issues that are hitting close to home, they are far more likely to also vote for the bigger races at the top of the ballot. It doesn’t always work the other way around. The more voices heard for every seat, the better.
2. The people we put in power during the midterms help check executive power. Local power is our greatest leverage against decisions we don’t like at the national level. School boards make decisions about our kids’ and grandkids’ schools. City, town, and county leaders decide what happens with data centers, surveillance cameras, and detention centers in our communities. State legislatures set public school funding and access to health care. The people we elect in the midterms provide important checks and balances on the executive branch elected during Presidential elections.
3. Voting for local races in the midterms keeps us civically engaged, even if national-level politics has turned us off. Millions of people are overwhelmed, exhausted, and turned off by capital-P Politics right now. We get it! But we all still care about what’s happening in our schools and neighborhoods, because that’s personal. Voting for midterm races keeps us connected and makes sure our voices are heard.
4. Voting for local races in the midterms helps people focus on issues and candidates, not political parties. Voters, especially suburban women, are disillusioned by party politics and are avoiding or abandoning party affiliations altogether. We want to focus on our values and improving our communities. Focusing on local races, some of which are nonpartisan, helps us do that.
5. Keeping voters engaged during midterm elections builds opportunities to stay involved year-round. Our democracy works best when citizens are actively involved in the process and in local government. Voting in every single election keeps us in the know. It’s also the most powerful way to be heard and to hold our elected representatives accountable.

We should be voting in every single election, and Red Wine & Blue knows the most impactful way to get voters involved – and have fun while doing it! Over the next few weeks, we’ll take more easy actions to get everyone we know ready to vote in the November 3 midterms.