The Progressives in California

  The Progressives in California enacted several social and political reforms as they gained power. One of these reforms was creating non-partisan elections for local offices. This means that when candidates run for these local offices, they are not allowed to have partisan labels (like Democrat or Republican) next to their names on the ballot. The absence of party labels, however, leaves voters a bit confused. For some voters, knowing a candidate’s party affiliation is all they need to know to make a decision. Others might take time to research where a candidate stands in terms of partisanship. Arguably, however, most people will not. Instead, they might vote for a candidate based on name recognition, occupation, perceived ethnicity, or anything else that might give them clues as to who might best represent them. Additionally, even though local candidates are not able to have their partisan identity on the ballot, these candidates are still able to campaign as partisan as they please by creating social media advertisements, mailers, and commercials as “republicans” or “democrats” “green party candidates” etc., running for city council, boards of supervisors, mayor or any other local office. This has led many to call these nonpartisan races, “non-partisan in name only”. On the other hand, others defend non-partisan local elections arguing that the system allows candidates to define themselves as individuals, responding to local issues, rather than a large party platform. Candidates might pitch themselves as “above” or “beyond” party politics that typically dominate presidential and statewide elections. Arguably, independents and third-party candidates have a better shot of beating traditional candidates from the 2 major parties. Take a position: Should we keep local elections nonpartisan? Or should we allow candidates running for local elections to use partisan labels on the ballot? Why or why not? Keep in mind the progressive’s original intentions with this reform, and whether or not that is relevant to today’s political parties. Should party politics matter at the local level? Why or why not? Another question you might consider is how this type of election might affect the way a candidate campaigns for office.