This is Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede.
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Good morning.
I'm Lauren Pastrana.
Welcome to Facing South Florida.
Jim DeFede is off this week.
Election day is two days away,
but some people may not even know it.
Off-year elections tend to have low turnout,
but the results usually have the biggest impact
on local communities.
Some of the big municipal contests this cycle,
include Mayoral and Commission races
in Miami, Hialeah, and Miami Beach.
The election to replace late Congressman Alcee Hastings
in Florida's 20th congressional district
and several ballot issues,
including an earlier last call for alcohol
in Miami Beach.
FIU Professor, Kathryn Dapalo-Gould focuses
on state and local politics.
And she told me, the relative few people
who actually do vote,
will have a huge say in how local government works
for the rest of us.
Historically, obviously, people turn out
in mass numbers for presidential elections.
Those are the big names.
All the attention goes to those big races,
but it's really these small races in the municipalities
or countywide even, that really are the ones
that affect how we live day in and day out.
How important are these elections that are just
around the corner?
These local races are really the kinds of races
where they affect your daily life from, you know,
turning on the electricity in some cases to driving
on the roads, to whether your garbage gets picked up.
And I think people don't realize how important some
of these local races are
because they're not as high profile.
And so, people think things are going along just fine.
Sometimes there are shocks to the system
and there'll be some more interesting election
where a particular race or some issue in particular
that really motivates people to go to the polls.
But in these off-year elections,
people aren't necessarily expecting an election.
You know, it's not the presidential cycle
where everybody's paying attention.
It's not a mid-term election where we have
a governor's race,
sometimes a Senate race or other races to motivate people.
So the local races really kind of get left behind.
Because these elections don't get as much attention
unless maybe people are watching hopefully their local news,
and they're getting that information.
How are they getting informed about these candidates
and these issues?
Where should they be turning to get this information?
Because hopefully yes, they do show up to vote,
but maybe they don't recognize the names
or know what these ballot measures means.
What should they be doing before getting
into that voting booth?
Well, the local news I think is really, really important.
You know, whether you're talking about on TV
or are you talking about
the local newspapers,
because that's where you get the best coverage.
You know, you're covering the stories,
you're covering them in depth and the candidates
and the issues.
But if people aren't paying close attention
to some of those,
all they really see are perhaps signs in somebody's yard,
or, you know, they see a sign, "Vote today",
and many just won't bother, right?
So, but those that are really coming out to vote
in these off-year elections,
we do find are very informed consumers.
I mean, they are paying attention to the local news.
So even though that turnout is very low, you know,
they are informed on the issues on the candidates.
Barring that, you know, these non-partisan races,
you don't have an R or a D,
which can serve as a voting queue,
so a lot of times, you know, it goes by name,
you know, you seen that name or, you know,
that person's name, you know, sounds like me
and you know, my community.
And so, that might be a reason to vote for somebody,
but, you know,
usually these people are pretty well-informed
and that's the flip-side of having lower turnout.
I think we have a very recent example of how,
who we elect and who are put into local offices
can impact beyond what people might think.
Just looking at the city of Miami and the issues
they've had with the commission and the termination
of the police chief,
who was hired by the city manager with the approval
of the mayor, but it came down to the commission
to say, "Nope, you're out of here."
How important is it that people understand
that those roles that they may consider small,
actually have a lot of power within the city
or the county that they serve?
Oh, absolutely.
I, you know, I think people have a sense that, you know,
the media always sorta talk about the federal government
it's of course not unimportant.
We talk about what the governor does, that's important,
but on day to day life, you know,
I don't think people realize that what your city commission,
what your county commission, even your local school boards,
you know, what they are doing on a daily basis
are impacting you, you know, from the minute
you wake up, and until you wake up the next day,
right?
I mean, these are really important issues.
And I think until there's some kind of major news item,
there's a scandal, you know,
people aren't necessarily paying attention
to what is going on.
They're happy and they're content, you know,
trust in local government is much higher
than we find and trust in the federal government
or even at the state government level.
And that's been pretty consistent.
So I think people think as long as things
are humming along nicely, right?
I don't necessarily need to be involved.
Will this matter,
right?
But those who are showing up, know it matters.
And you know, there's lots of local elections
even across the country that
are decided by just a few votes.
And so, you know,
I think the large amount of people who do show up
are really allied with one candidate or another,
or, you know, with one electoral coalition,
one group or another,
and that group can be varied interests, but that,
those are the people who see the absolute stake
and who has political power.
So, you know,
until sort of the average person, right,
who may not have an interest in politics particularly,
may not see any particular difference in candidates,
you know, when they do, that's when they will turn out
to vote.
And I think, you know,
the messages are clear out there of how important this is,
you know, and again,
I think there's plenty of information that voters can find.
I think off-year elections though, as I've stated,
kind of throw people for a loop, you know,
if they go to the ballot and they're voting for president
or they're voting for governor, you know,
they may be surprised by what is on the ballot,
but you're going to have higher turnout.
You know, those who in off-year elections
will be paying attention,
you know, are the ones who tend to vote.
And I think, you know,
anything with Miami tends to be more nationalized
and Miami specifically, you know,
there's been news out of Miami Beach, you know,
these things that are also permeating,
I think, you know,
the other news that is also out there.
So, you know,
I think it's some of these smaller municipalities
that may not get the same kind of attention,
you know, that people are seeking from all kinds
of different other avenues besides local news.
Remember early voting ends today
and election day is Tuesday.
The polls are open from seven to seven,
so get out and vote.
Up next, she's a doctor who gave birth in the pandemic
and also lost a loved one to COVID.
Now she's using her platform to spread awareness.
We talk to Dr. Jennifer Shell, when we come back.