This week’s guest says four years of Trump’s presidency, COVID, and the Black Lives Matter movement have inspired a new generation of queer leaders to seek elected office in the Bay Area. And that was before the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Bay Area Reporter assistant editor and political columnist Matthew S. Bajko tells us a “rainbow wave” could wash over our region’s suburbs as more LGBTQ candidates than ever before are running outside of the Bay Area’s three biggest cities — San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
Since the loss of Justice Ginsburg to cancer Sept. 18, attention on the presidency and other federal races on November ballots – especially the US Senate – has intensified. We’ll look at those races soon. But the record number of LGBTQ people seeking local and state legislative offices this November demands our attention for many reasons Bajko explains.
Chief among them is that folks who serve in local offices make up the “farm team” from which future state and national leaders emerge. Those leaders determine how we’re represented in Sacramento and Washington, and ultimately who serves on our nation’s high courts, rendering decisions that affect our lives in the most personal ways, from health care access to sexual and reproductive freedom, other civil rights and much more.
Matthew S. Bajko has been covering politics and other news for the Bay Area Reporter – the region’s largest LGBTQ-focused newspaper and online news service — for 19 years. To follow Matthew on Twitter: www.twitter.com/politicalnotes
Photo: Santa Clara County School Board candidate Ketzal Gomez, courtesy of Gomez campaign
Get-Out-The-Vote Efforts:
Vote Forward volunteers send heartfelt handwritten letters to unregistered and low-propensity voters encouraging them to participate in our democracy.
Reclaim Our Vote is a volunteer-driven, nonpartisan voter outreach campaign to help empower voters of color and fight voter suppression.
The Sister District Project “is all about giving those of us in blue areas like San Francisco a chance to support great candidates for state elections across the United States where our help can make a real difference.” (from Sister District SF web page)
