MainPAC, the political action committee of the MainStream Coalition, has released their endorsements for the 2019 elections, for Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas.
Wait, 2019? Isn't 2020 the next election?
No sir, no ma'am. In Kansas, we vote every August and November. Since a change in the election laws was passed years ago in the Kansas Legislature, even in odd years we vote on the same days as in even years. Those springtime elections you may remember are history. In odd years, like this one, we vote for local offices, like city councils, school boards, and county colleges.
Local elections like these are critical elections for a couple of reasons.
1. Stop the next Kris Kobach! This is your best chance to stop the next Kris Kobach before he gets started. Kobach's first elected office was on the city council of Overland Park, KS. What if he had lost that race? Any number of politicians holding statewide or higher offices started with one of these odd year elections.
2. Nobody votes in these election! While local elections vary across the state, turnout is usually in the low teens, if it even cracks double digits. In 2017, Sedgwick County (Wichita) barely turned out 8% of their registered voters! That's terrible, sure, but it means that a motivated few can make a real difference. A favorite tactic of extremists is to use low turnout elections to have their say with a few motivated voters. You can counter that with your vote.
While your one vote makes a difference...
Don't get us wrong, every single vote is important, and in a low turnout election even more so.
But what if you could multiply your vote?
Have you heard about Voter to Voter? This is our non-partisan get out the vote program where we help you connect with people you already know, and talk to them about the importance of voting. In 2018, the program was wildly successful, connecting with 5,500 voters and beating the state's turnout numbers by 30%! Imagine what we could do in an election projected to hit only 10% turnout...
Voter to Voter is gearing up this weekend and next week! There are free trainings on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, and then regular webinars and standing trainings through the election season.
Join hundreds of other Kansans who are participating in Voter to Voter, making low turnout elections history. At the training sessions (or one of our webinars!), you will learn about the project, meet the staff, and find out how Voter to Voter is working to make a real difference in 2019 and 2020.
How to you sign up? It's simple.
And T-shirts, yes
The MainStream Coalition does a lot of work in and around Kansas politics. We run Voter to Voter and other get out the vote programs, we hold voter education events, we put together voting scorecards, we maintain online legislator lookup tools, we travel to Topeka to testify, and much more.
All of that is funded by you. And what do you get? The warm feeling of doing good? Of supporting an organization that works for ALL Kansans, respecting the rights and dignity of every Kansan? Sure. But would you like something else?
Right now we are trying something new, a campaign to fund a t-shirt, and the MainStream Coalition. For ten days we've got a shirt for sale, and if we reach our goal, we'll get some of the proceeds, and you'll get a shirt!
- See our first shirt! =Pay isn't a slogan, it's one of the goals behind getting women engaged, elected, and leading.
Do more than vote.
