All Politics is Local: a blessing or a curse?

by Valerie Pierzina

Primary elections in Wisconsin do not always garner a high voter turnout, with past percentages typically in the range of 9-17%. This year is different however. The voter turnout is expected to reach as high as 28% as estimated by the Government Accountability Board. That would be the highest voter turnout in the history of our state, with the highest being 27.9% in 1964. There are many reasons for renewed interest in the primary process. For one, voters have simply become more aware and more engaged than in years past as they recognize that elected officials are no longer listening to or accurately representing the will of the people. Much of this realization has been sparked by the persistent presence of the TEA Party movement. Another reason this primary in particular has such strong interest is that most of the races are also contested. The Governor’s office is open, there is a primary for US Senate, and there are contested primaries in numerous constitutional offices as well as congressional seats. While most of the action and interesting races are plainly on the Republican side of the ticket, “politics is local,” as the old saying goes, and local races often drive elections. Wisconsin adheres to an “Open Primary” system which does not require voters to register (and subsequently vote) with one specific party. However, while it is an “Open Primary” in that regard, voters are still required to declare one party at the ballot box and are not allowed to cross-over and vote for candidates of both political parties within the same primary. On the September 14th Primary, Wisconsin voters will choose either a Republican ballot or a Democrat ballot. My concern with this on the local level is that Trempealeau County is already a Democrat County. Couple that with the fact that there is a hot button race for Trempealeau County Sheriff on the Democrat side, and no real contested primaries locally on the Republican side, and this could add up to a low voter turnout on the Republican side of the ticket in Trempealeau County’s primary election. As a side note, even the Republican candidates themselves are not doing all they can to increase their voter turnout. Many Republican candidates encourage voting in the September 14th Primary on their campaign literature, but fail to mention anywhere they are a Republican or stress a vote in the Republican Primary. Republicans must be comfortable calling themselves Republican to ensure voters know where to find them on the primary ballot. Anyway, even though I would argue there is clearly more at stake on the Republican side, and a vote there would certainly have more impact, politics is local and people may feel more connected to a local race. This is why I was so disheartened to hear that Terry Daffinson, chose to primary the Democrat incumbent Sheriff Richard Anderson instead of running as a Republican. First of all, I believe a lot of Daffinson's support would come from Republicans, (who hopefully still choose to vote in the Republican primary)! And, secondly, there is no one running for Sheriff as a Republican which would have ensured Terry make it to the general with the support of the Republican Party of Trempealeau County at his back, a group that has become very strong and dedicated over the past couple years. In closing, this one local race could alter our own Republican turnout in the county. I hope this is not true and I know the Republican Party of Trempealeau County has done all it possibly can to promote and educate residents on the importance of the Republican primary vote. Now, we will just have to wait and see if all those efforts paid off or if citizens of Trempealeau County decide to keep it local.