The upcoming federal election cycle sure looks exciting from here. Democrats are fighting for their political lives, Republicans trying to make gains in both houses of Congress and Tea Partiers clamoring for revolution.
And while we’re at it, we’re still feeling the buzz from the 2008 presidential election, even if “Yes we can” is turning into “No, we still haven’t.”
If you’re political junkies like us, you can’t get enough of exercising your civic duty. If that’s the case, may we interest you in a local mayoral election to whet your appetite for the fall?
Gainesville voters will elect a new mayor today. Hopefully, students will have a better showing at the polls than they usually do in city elections.
We’ll forgive students for not getting involved in previous mayoral elections. Hardly anyone else in Gainesville got involved, either. The last time Gainesville elected a mayor, 2007, the turnout was only 11 percent.
But the traditionally low turnout for city elections means students’ voices will be even louder if they turn out at the polls.
Some city officials snub their noses at the student community. Monica Leadon Cooper, one of the mayoral candidates, said UF students “act like little children.”
Having a larger than usual student turnout would force city officials to pay more attention to the needs of students.
But if that’s not enough to convince you to vote, just think of it as getting yourself ready to vote in the fall, when Florida will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. It takes practice to bubble in a ballot.
