Some of the women enrolled in the 2019-20 WIN Leadership Academy Inspire Your Inner WINner training are planning to run for municipal office this fall.

Former United States Speaker Tip O’Neill is most often credited with the saying, “All politics is local.”

Certainly it is local politics which most immediately impacts our day-to-day lives. We experience the action – or inaction – of local government each time we turn on a faucet or drive a car on a public street.  We depend upon the local police department for protection and a responsive emergency medical team for transport to the hospital emergency room when disaster strikes. Public schools educate our children and the offerings of local libraries are a repository of knowledge for continuing education and enjoyment.

Gwinnett County Democratic Party Chair Bianca Keaton, who attended a WIN List Boot Camp in 2017,  shared a story across social media platforms yesterday which should motivate more people to consider running for local office in Gwinnett County and elsewhere. In Gwinnett, like in many areas of the state, the roster of local government officials does not yet reflect the demographics of the population they serve. In fact, evidence of racial divides in the county are clearly evident in the $5 million lawsuit one Gwinnett County Commissioner, Tommy Hunter, has filed against fellow commissioners is because they reprimanded him for calling Congressman John Lewis a “racist pig” on social media.

Keaton is a thirty-something African American woman long active in political circles who cherishes her friendship with an energetic 70 year old white woman well known in Gwinnett’s progressive political circles. The activist had been grocery shopping in Lawrenceville Monday.

Edited highlights from Keaton’s post:

“My colleague happens to be one of the most thoughtful, wittiest and devoted members of our County Party. If you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with me. I. Love. This. Woman. She’s got political buttons older than me by a decade, and at this stage in life, she’s expressed grief that she’s having to pull those buttons out of retirement to fight the same fights she’d fought and thought were won long ago… She’s got a bumper sticker for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

She comes out of the store to find “I love Trump” stickers plastered all over the Democratic-leaning stickers on her car. They were still pliable enough to peel off, which she did. No sooner than she peels off the last sticker, a guy begins yelling ”traitor” at her from across the parking lot. ”You’re a traitor.  You’re a F–ing traitor.”

She looked over and unsurprisingly discovered an older white man leaning out of his work truck. Unbothered, she got in her car and drove off. He FOLLOWED her. He followed her y’all?!

When it was clear he was following her, she worried he would follow her home. She drove past her turn  for additional mile of the road. She turned. He turned. She made quick turn into a busy shopping center, he made a quick turn behind her almost slamming into her rear. Then he laid on his horn and zoomed around her. She called the business that was advertised on his truck and determined the driver of the truck was the owner of the business.

She reported it immediately to the police. They came to her home and said no crime had been committed. I disagree even if all they do is charge him with defacing her property. The officers summarily dismissed her concerns by explaining that this stuff happens because “both sides” are so heated.

This isn’t about BOTH SIDES.  In this specific incident, there is only ONE SIDE which is committing harassment and intimidation.

Why do you think this white man called a 70-year-old white woman a traitor…? Why? I’ll make it plain –– his political views are based on his hatred for black and brown people and he views this white woman as a traitor for betraying their race… The police department failed to act so will take this to the court of public opinion.”

One place for the “court of public opinion” to strongly express a distaste for police departments who ignore the harassment of law abiding citizens is the ballot box this November. Police departments answer to the governing bodies who hire their police chiefs and fund their payroll accounts. The mayor of Lawrenceville is not running for re-election this fall and some city council seats are also on the ballot.  

Qualifying begins in mid-August for the half the state’s municipal offices which are on the ballot in November. Dates and times for qualifying vary locally. County races are filled in even years. These municipal races are largely non-partisan and local officials in Georgia often run unopposed. Surely it is time for some local “competition.”

Serving on city councils, county commissions and local school boards are often an important stepping stone to legislative office. For example, WIN List endorsed Senator Valencia Seay, served on the local school board before running for the Georgia House and then the Senate.  Rep. Teri Anulewicz served on the Smyrna city council for 10 years before running for the House without opposition.

Georgia is geographically the largest state East of the Mississippi River and the ninth most populous state in the nation with 10.6 million people. With 159 counties and 535 incorporated municipalities, there are many local offices to fill. Cities range in size from Atlanta with more than 400,000 residents down to Edge Hill which has 24 residents.

Statewide, voters elect more than 3050 municipal officials, more than 830 County Commissioners and more than 1050 School Board members for county or city school systems. Roughly half of the municipal offices are on the ballot in November.

Georgia WIN List does not endorse for local elected office, but we happily train those who are considering such campaigns. We plan several training sessions around the state in the coming weeks and will announce those soon. Watch this space for a blog post next week with more information for those who are considering a bid for local office.