Don’t forget (or neglect) those races ‘down ballot’

The mid-term elections are less than two weeks away. In Stanislaus County, the pre-election buzz over which party should control Congress has grown so loud that it threatens to drown out discussion of the many local offices up for grabs.

But even if cable news channels ignore these races, Stanislaus County voters cannot afford to.

To truly have an impact this November, voters must remember to vote in all the local, “down-ballot” races.

If you are like most voters, you already have a preference for senator, governor and probably your member of Congress. But you might not have an opinion about a range of local offices – like district attorney, county supervisor or county school superintendent.

To ignore these down-ballot races would be a mistake.

Take, for example, the district attorney – one of Stanislaus County’s most powerful offices. The DA oversees the county’s prosecutors. And every day, these prosecutors make decisions about whether to charge someone with a crime, what crime to charge them with and how relentlessly to pursue their cases.

The DA sets priorities for these prosecutions. For instance, it is the DA who decides how to prioritize crimes of sexual assault. And she also sets the agenda for addressing issues like police brutality, gang violence and vandalism – even fraud and environmental crimes.

Given this broad power, the DA sets the tone for how the local police in each community and the Sheriff’s deputies interact with Stanislaus County residents. This includes where the deputies should spend their time and resources, and how they should treat immigrants and people of color.

Despite the importance of the DA’s race, relatively few voters bother to mark their preferred candidate on election day.

In the June primary, only 80,229 of Stanislaus County’s approximately 233,576 registered voters cast a ballot for District Attorney. Yet 88,397 voters – 8,000 more – voted on who should be governor. This margin represents those who chose not to exercise their vote in down-ballot races, despite the importance this specific down-ballot race has on their everyday lives.

Yet DA is not the only local office at issue in this election. Stanislaus County voters have the opportunity to elect two members of the board of supervisors, as well a superintendent of schools and various city council members.

Together, these officials will be responsible for addressing issues like jobs, agricultural health and how our children learn. Perhaps more so than any politician we send to Washington, DC, these local officials will determine our quality of life on a day-to-day basis. And this doesn’t count the many municipal and bond measures on the ballot.

In a time when politics can seem like one big national shout-fest, it’s worth remembering how important these down-ballot offices truly are. And to ensure our local officials serve us well, there is only one thing to do: Vote!