In Wisconsin, our Republican-led legislature is putting citizens at risk for political gain. They pushed for an in-person election during the peak of a pandemic, resulting in needless exposure to COVID-19. On May 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home order thirteen days before it was scheduled to end, causing municipalities to scramble to come up with new restrictions, with varying degrees of success. The Republican legislature was at the head of the lawsuit against the Evers administration, alleging that rules in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus were unjust, un-American and tyrannical. Wisconsin citizens will likely pay the price of these efforts to politicize the response to the virus. In this time of crisis, we can plainly see that our leadership is failing, but it’s hardly the first time. 

More than ever, it’s clear just how important state and local leadership is to the health and safety of civilians. We have a chance to choose our leadership in November, and the consequences of that choice will impact our lives just as much as the presidential election, if not more. 

 On top of coronavirus, tensions between local leaders and Milwaukee residents are building as protests erupt over the lacking response to police brutality. These crises are occurring simultaneously, and although they seem to be independent, they are both a result of the same thing: poor local and state leadership. In both cases, many are justifiably angry at President Trump. He is certainly not off the hook; presidents are responsible for both political and moral leadership during times of struggle or unrest, and he is providing neither. However, some of the more specific problems that must be addressed need to be fixed by state and local governments. This includes police training policies, social distancing restrictions, prosecution of violent cops and coronavirus testing plans. The way out of these two issues, and many more, includes paying more attention to down-ballot elections. 

I’ve been following state politics far more than I used to before the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump left most decisions about when to lock down or reopen to the governors, so the leadership in times of crisis that we typically expect from the federal government has played out on the state level. I always knew that Wisconsin, like many swing states, is home to some nasty partisan politics. However, the policy implications of that are especially clear when they determine whether or not you can go to school, a restaurant or a friend’s house. In May, the state-wide response to the virus fell apart, and local governments were left to pick up the pieces. The actions of Wisconsin Republicans in power endangered residents and pushed our timeline for a safe reopening back even further. At the same time, decisions made by district attorneys around the country about the killings of Ahmaud Arbury, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd highlighted the injustices that occur in communities all across the country when it comes to policing. These were all decisions made by state and local elected officials.

Still, most of the country’s attention, including mine, was on the presidential race. Americans often fall into a trap of thinking that the right president will come in like a knight in shining armour, to save us all. In reality, so many of the decisions that actually impact your life come from state and local governments. Public health policies are made on a state by state basis, if not a county by county basis. The decision on whether or not to prosecute police officers accused of police brutality falls on district attorneys and state attorney generals. In a statement on June 1, former president Barack Obama explained the importance of civic engagement to solve these problems. “…it’s important for us to understand which levels of government have the biggest impact on our criminal justice system and police practices. When we think about politics, a lot of us focus only on the presidency and the federal government,” he said. “…But the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.”

Coronavirus and police brutality have converged to show us just how much our local and state governments matter, and just how much some of them are failing. Whether you love Joe Biden or hate him, if you care about progressive policies you better show up to vote for down ballot candidates at the bare minimum. 

That’s why I’ll be spending my summer volunteering for Deb Andraca, the Democrat running against Jim Ott for the 23rd Assembly District, my home district. After the long Democratic primary process, I’m feeling slightly disillusioned with the presidential race. I’ll vote for Joe Biden, of course, and I’ll try to convince my friends and family to vote for him as well, but I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time will be volunteering for local elections like this one. 

While most readers of Ripples don’t live in the 23rd District, I encourage you to get out there in any way you can. Come up to Whitefish Bay (in spirit for now, of course), make calls for Andraca. Find information and other local volunteer opportunities through organizations such as Vote Save America. Donate money, put up a yard sign, talk to your neighbors and make sure you’re registered to vote. Who holds seats in our government impacts our lives so much, and it’s important that we leave it all on the field in our fight to reclaim our state houses.