Campaigns, Local

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS closest to the daily lives of citizens, but local campaigns attract less interest and fewer qualified candidates than other campaigns. Moreover, although the potential for influence is as salient at the local level as at any other, there are fewer regulations governing campaigning at the local level, and there is no standard for consistency. There are over 87,000 local governments in the United States, ranging from jurisdictions with just a few residents, to those representing millions. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, local governments include 3,034 counties, 19,429 municipalities, 16,504 townships, and 35,052 special districts (which include 13,506 school districts). Counties, townships, and municipalities are “general purpose” local governments that provide a wide range of services to their residents and have been granted broad authority by states. Special districts are limited to a single service or a narrow range of functions.

Probably the most visible examples of special districts are school districts. However, special districts may be created to administer ports, hospital jurisdictions, fire protection zones, or environmental matters, such as water districts. In most states, local governments may assist the state in performing tasks such as jailing and prosecuting criminals, providing public health services, processing vehicle license plates, and maintaining necessary records, such as those for real estate and marriage. From 1952 to 2002, the Census Bureau reports that the total number of local governments in the United States dropped from 116,756 to 87,849, mostly due to the consolidation of school districts.

Each of these governments has a number of elected officials. City council members, county commissioners, school board members, and other commonly known officials are elected. However, in many local governments, tax assessors, district attorneys, surveyors, coroners, sheriffs, and magistrate judges are also elected, resulting in a patchwork of local campaign styles and overlapping jurisdictions. Local campaigns tend to be much smaller in scope than state or national campaigns, but they can be just as competitive. In some large cities, campaigns for mayor have exceeded expenditures for U.S. Senate campaigns.

Given the range of policies over which local officials have jurisdiction, such as land use and local service provision, the outcomes of local elections are important for the daily lives of citizens. Local campaigns and elections are also important as indicators of the changes in direction and methods for conducting campaigns at higher levels. Grassroots campaigning, or the mobilization of smaller groups of people to change opinion, policy, or election outcomes, often spills over into state or national politics. The more sophisticated use of technology, such as internet campaigning and mapping techniques, which [Page 86]began at the local level, has become commonplace in state and national elections.

Turnout in local elections is often low, generally between 30 and 50 percent of eligible voters. This may be a consequence of the low visibility of these elections or a result of election characteristics. Local elections may be partisan or nonpartisan. In some jurisdictions and/or within some states, partisan elections may be held for some offices, while other offices within the same jurisdiction are nonpartisan. For example, in Georgia countywide elections for commission seats are partisan, but countywide elections for judicial office seekers are nonpartisan. However, candidates for district attorney within those same counties run in partisan elections. Nationwide, most municipal elections are nonpartisan, diminishing the activities of parties in the electoral process. In addition, local elections maybe held in non-concurrent years with other state elections, making turnout difficult to predict. Studies show that municipal election turnout is more likely to exceed 50 percent when these elections are held concurrently with state and/or federal elections. However, non-concurrent election schedules sometimes allow for political endorsements by office holders who run in non-concurrent years. For example, the mayor may endorse a candidate for county commission in one year, with the expectation that the favor will be returned when municipal elections are held and county commissioners are in midterms.

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