Your Nonpartisan Races Matter, Too

With the top of the ticket taking every headline, the most impact you could have at home is down your ballot

Filing for South Carolina’s partisan elections for November 5th has come and gone. However, filing for nonpartisan races, such as the school board or some municipal council seats, we are currently in the middle of. These local races are arguably the most important on your ballot this year, yet getting people to agree to run for office, even in nonpartisan seats, is becoming increasingly difficult. I spent some time last week discussing this with public school parents and advocate Mallory Dittmer. As someone who stepped up to run in a nonpartisan special election this year, allow me to lay the groundwork for why running in these seats is so crucial and what you can say to those who should run that could be the convincing logic.

The beauty of a later filing period is that your campaign's runway is shorter. Rather than spending 8 months campaigning, you run a sprint for the length of a three-month campaign. This is particularly helpful for working parents who may have to adjust schedules to make being a candidate work for them. Additionally, the further down-ballot races are, the higher the likelihood of people “dropping off,” or not voting; so rather than convincing a whole new section of the population to go out to vote, like some of these races up-ticket try to do, your hyper-local races can focus on the solid voting population and instead convincing them to continue all the way through to the end of their ballots. These local races tend to come down to a handful of votes, where everyone matters.

Unfortunately, in the year 2024, there really is no such thing as a “nonpartisan” race. Take it from me: if a special town council election can’t stay nonpartisan, it feels as if nothing can. However, knowing that ahead of time can be to your benefit. I wish I had better prepared myself for it, so please learn from my mistakes! Especially for something like a school board, where you can stick to one major issue, this can be a benefit: turn their partisanship against them as a negative. When children walk into a school, their teacher and school staff do not care if they come from a Republican or Democratic household; when a pothole takes out your car due to lack of upkeep, they aren’t seeking out cars whose drivers are only Democrats or only Republicans – these are issues that impact everyone.

We have seen what happens when nefarious players infiltrate school boards and local councils. Our kids lose, our educators lose, our parents lose–we all lose. These bad-faith actors will continue their attacks because they have been rewarded for their efforts. The more we stay home and keep ourselves out of the game because we are fearful of them, the more they win. Trust me when I say that I understand the risk you are taking on, and your family may take on by stepping up to run for these seats. But I also need you to trust me when I say there are far fewer of them than the noise would lead you to believe. By refusing to step into the ring, your community, the overwhelming majority of which does not align with extremist views, does not get to use their voice to stand up and fight back. Only the extremists win when they bully you into not jumping into the ring. 

Even if your potential opponent isn’t an “extremist,” ask yourself if your community is better off having a choice on their ballot. I am firmly in the camp of not allowing anyone to walk into elected office without having to earn it. At the very least, they must do the work to get to know the community’s needs before assuming office. They must gain the support of voters. They can only do that with a challenger.

With the closing days of this nonpartisan filing period, please ask yourself if you are okay with those chaotic candidates going unchallenged. You cannot expect someone else to step up on your behalf. You must do it. I promise you, that you are qualified for the challenge, and your community will be better because of it.