Dems did well in my conservative town yesterday

[xmas74]

We elected a member to the hospital board who is highly in favor of Medicaid expansion. (MO doesn't have it-yet.) We elected a local Dem as a school board member. And we finally passed our safe schools levy, which our local group has heavily supported.

It's time to play their game. We need to push local elections. The Republicans have done so for decades and the RR have actively pushed for members to run locally, where there isn't much of a fight yet they can still have lots of influence. If a conservative military town can elect Dems to local seats other towns can do it too!

[RKP5637]

1. K&R! n/t

[xmas74]

18. Thank you. n/t

[merrily]

2. Good for you and your town!

[xmas74]

19. Thank you.

It was a pleasant surprise.

[riqster]

3. Good on you!

[xmas74]

20. Thank you. n/t

[AllyCat]

4. Yay! We have a similar success story in my small city

Turned blue a year or so after we moved here (not because of us...or maybe...) If we can get progressives to run, they usually win. We managed to fight off conservative challenges to hold two seats on city council, passed 3 referendums that send a message to the previous Council and the RW mayor that we don't want our tax money spent on Wal-Mart, and we gained one more progressive voice to our school board (mine is one of those voices).

Go for the local races people! The right is not well organized for those yet and you can make a good change with a lot of effort.

We had about 30% turnout for a spring election.

[xmas74]

21. Congrats!

We need to work more on local elections and building good relations in the community on school boards, water boards, hospital boards and whatever else comes around. Local experience builds to good ties for state contests, where so much more support is needed.

[Duval]

5. Wonderful! May

North Carolina have such results in the coming elections.

[xmas74]

22. Here's hoping for the best!

[mountain grammy]

6. You're so correct and congratulations. Sanity must be restored at the local level.

We have to start at the bottom and get into local offices. In our last local election, not a single board seat was uncontested. That's a first for our county where Republicans run unopposed. Even though mostly Republicans get elected, we're sending a message: we're watching you.

While no one was watching, our local fire district in our sleepy little town with 200 calls/year, raised the pay of the fire chief to $110,000/year with an new truck thrown in every 2 years. This in a town that can't provide affordable housing for locals or seasonal workers. The Republican paradise of those running the place living in luxury while the serfs live in squalor is alive and well here. That some people are finally paying attention is a good, but we have a lot of ground to make up.

[xmas74]

23. At least they are finally waking up and paying attention!

We need to get more progressives running locally and get more people actually campaigning for them. I've said it for years now: local elections are where the real fights happen. Catch them early in the local and the RWers have no experience built up for state office. Get progressives in and the experience will carry them further.

[ybbor]

7. I live in an extremely progressive city

But we are surrounded by many republican controlled smaller towns. I wish they would turn, but there is no way I would want to live there to help facilitate the change.

I hope there is a group of Dems there to make a dent in the near future.

[oldandhappy]

8. well done and well said

Congratulations!

[world wide wally]

9. So, has anyone ever figured out why small towns are so radically right wing?

[bigbrother05]

10. They are usually the only ones pissed off enough to run

Also some of the few who feel it it their "responsibility" to run other people's lives.

[jeff47]

13. Each town is going to have different reasons.

For a while, I lived in what used to be a city in upstate NY. It's dying, and now is a small town. NAFTA and similar efforts destroyed the factories, and Democrats sacrificed the military base during a BRAC to keep other bases open.

The people who remained either worked at the federal government jobs that remained at the former base, were contractors for those, or were barely clinging on and couldn't afford to get out.

They voted very Republican. God & Guns, anger at the state Democratic party for ignoring the area, anger at Democrats for free trade and tax cuts paid for by benefit cuts. It didn't help that corruption was rampant in the local governments, and since Republicans were in power they made sure to highlight corruption of Democrats.

[Arugula Latte]

14. In part it's the attraction of bigger cities and the coasts pulling at the liberals, who leave

(to go off to college or whatever) and never come back. But that's just one factor.

[world wide wally]

15. When you look at it though, post WWll America was very liberal minded when it came to social policy

Somehow, that has all been reversed to the point where so many people are voting against their own self interests that the country is crumbling from within.
Kind of like cancer.

[jwirr]

11. This is exactly how the Rs took over what used to be the old Rs party. They started at the local

level.

[fizzgig]

12. my little city didn't fare so well

our city council is non-partisan, but the pro-fracking, anti-marijuana (i'm in colorado), chamber of commerce candidates all won yesterday.

[world wide wally]

16. Just wondering what town that is

I live in Manitou Springs where we have two recreational marijuana retail shops.
One of them claims to be the busiest store in America based on daily customers per square ft.

[fizzgig]

17. fort collins

three recreational shops, not sure how many med dispensaries. city council shut the med shops down four or five years ago but we voted to bring them back.

what do prices look like there? it's close to 50 an eighth up here.