What Can We Make Of The Local & National Election Results?
Election 2021 is in the books...more or less. There are still more election day ballots to count and the Yakima City Council race in District #6 really is too close to call ...but there are some things now to consider about the outcome.
Starting with the political direction of Yakima, admittedly I am in a bubble. KIT is a conservative radio station. We serve a conservative audience and we see the world through a conservative perspective...a little more right of center. When I look at the current (non-partisan) Yakima council I see a political mix that doesn't exactly match my view of Yakima. I've always said Yakima was a 60/40 Republican/Democrat community and the results of most elections bear that out. I've also said as the demographics change that ratio would change too.
Break It Down
In My Opinion, based on statements, votes, observation
| District | Council Member |
|---|---|
| 1 | Eliana Macias Democrat |
| 2 | Jason White Republican 2021 Winner Danny Herrera Democrat |
| 3 | Patricia Byers Republican |
| 4 | Kay Funk Democrat 2021 Winner Janice Deccio Democrat |
| 5 | Soneya Lund Democrat |
| 6 | Brad Hill Moderate 2021 Undecided Wallace/Brown I/R |
| 7 | Holly Cousens Democrat |
So if Lisa Wallace wins (she calls herself an Independent) the lone conservative perspective on the council will be Mayor Patricia Byers and I wonder if the council truly represents the Yakima perspective.
At the same time, the National Media is reporting the Republican Wave is coming as evidenced by conservative victories in Virginia, Minneapolis, Seattle, and elsewhere.
Party Politics
When I ran in 2009, that council included Bill Lover, Rick Ensey, Maureen Adkison, Kathey Coffey, Micah Cawley, Dave Edler & Me. All seven were conservative and two were uber-conservative.
Why all the focus on party identification for non-partisan races? Because people take their political philosophy and ideology with them when they go into office, which influences their actions and how they vote. According to the Tennesseean,com. the state of Tennessee just voted to make school board races partisan races so parents would know the political identification of the candidates. Great idea. We should do that in Washington for School Board and for the City Council races.
The turnout continues to be embarrassingly low. As of today 11/3/21, candidates in the lead - Danny Herrera has 171 votes, Janice Deccio has 460 votes, and Lisa Wallace has 1,412 votes for a total of 2,043.
I use rounded numbers for clarity -when I won in 2009 I had 9,000 votes and my opponent had 8,000 plus for a citywide vote total of 17,400. The measure of citywide vote total this election was the Yakima School Board race with a combined vote total of 5,260,
The numbers will grow some but what's the message to draw from this?. People don't care? People don't care about these candidates or the current issues? Do people not make the connection between who governs and how that impacts their lives? For councilpersons -Are you really governing "with the will of "the people" when the majority of "the people" didn't show up, and by "show up", I mean simply checking the box on the ballot that was hand-delivered to your door?
Closer to the KIT bubble, should we talk local politics on KIT? What do YOU care about? Do you have any concerns when it comes to how the community is being governed? Does the city council represent you and your neighbors or are they more interested in their personal agendas?
Post a response let us know what you think!