The estimated 7 million people who turned out for the October 2025 “No Kings” protests in 2,700 communities across the United States added up to a record crowd seeking to protest the actions of a sitting president. It points to a lot of discontent and motivation by citizens frustrated with the state of national politics, but will this fervor translate into turnout in local elections?
When I ran for mayor of Elmira, New York, turnout in off-year local elections was on the decline. Part of my outsider’s attempt to win the office, as chronicled in my SUNY Press book Daring to Run, wasn’t just to change how the city was run, but to better engage voters and citizens. It was no simple task. Though there was a lot of local discontent with local government, social media had yet to reach its zenith and reaching voters had to be done the old-fashioned way: by knocking on doors and talking to people. A lot of doors and a lot of people.
I recognized I faced an uphill battle, first taking on a three-term city councilman in the Democratic primary and, later, facing a Republican candidate with great name-recognition. Despite using most of my afternoons and evenings between June and September knocking on doors, getting play in the local newspaper and on television, sending out postcards, and planting hundreds of yard signs, just 16 percent of registered Democrats turned up to vote in that primary. That meant about 900 out of 5,700 eligible. I received 515 votes to my opponent’s 400.
The November general election was better. In the citywide race, I received 2,844 votes to my opponent’s 2,108, and the combination of nearly 5,000 votes cast represented an 8 percent increase from the last Elmira mayoral election. The next competitive election, held in 2011 after I decided not to run again, dipped to about 3,000 votes. Four years later, the mayoral election drew about 2,900 and, four years after that, about 2,700. In the most recent, about 2,400.
This downward trend is not isolated to Elmira. It’s become commonplace across the country. Voters who are jolted into action for national races and rallies seemingly shrug off local races, the very races that most impact their daily lives. Though local elected officials decide everything from funding for police and firefighters, road construction, responsible development, and more, engagement is lackluster. In Matthews, North Carolina, a municipality of 30,000 just outside Charlotte where I now live, the last mayoral and board elections drew fewer than 15 percent of eligible voters.
Today, candidates in local races continue to struggle to get the word out about their campaigns. There are hundreds fewer daily newspapers to cover the races and the lack of “mass media” has shifted to social media echo chambers. Candidates still put up signs, knock on doors, send mailers and advertise, but the lack of active citizen engagement is turning local races into microcosms of national races, where the most fervent decide the results, not the majority.
Money, too, has become an increasingly high hurdle. When I ran in 2005, I raised and spent a total of about $12,000 to my opponent’s $16,000. My budget was spent over six months; his over two. These amounts are small potatoes compared with national races that draw millions – even billions – of dollars, but it’s only a matter of time before local government races are overwhelmed by cash. Without media coverage, candidates increasingly have to rely on paid advertising on social media, radio, television, and in the few newspapers that remain to get visibility. That means most races go unnoticed and voters stay home.
To counter this, voters must actively seek out unbiased sources of information and turn their national fervor into local action. They should seek out the minutes and streaming videos of board meetings, municipal budgets, and “mass media” sources they trust. They must also turn out for public candidate forums, answer their doors when candidates come knocking, and ask candidates questions – in person, not in social media rants.
Without this kind of active engagement – and turning up to vote in local elections – the efforts behind “No Kings” will be rendered moot. The democratic process relies on citizen participation in the election process. Voting is the most critical step, not just every four years, but every year and in every race.