r/unionsolidarity

The Beverage Market is trying to raise health care costs by 900%. Teamsters are striking back.

Call and tell this greedy company you stand with the Teamsters: (304) 720-1425

I hear people say all the time that Indiana is a red state, so what is the point of voting?

I get why people feel that way. When the same people stay in office year after year and you watch decisions get made that make life harder for your family, eventually you start wondering if anyone is listening.

But here’s the part I can’t stop thinking about: 44% of registered voters don’t show up.

Nearly half.

We spend so much time talking about how red Indiana is, but what would Indiana look like if the people who have stopped voting decided to come back?

We got a small glimpse of that here in Hamilton County this year. Democratic turnout in the primary increased 248% this year.

That gives me hope, because those aren’t imaginary voters we’re waiting to appear someday. They’re our neighbors. They’re people who have been here all along and decided this time was worth showing up for.

Indiana doesn’t have to be a place where someone works full time and still can’t pay their bills, parents spend a second mortgage on childcare, people put off going to the doctor because they can’t afford it, teachers beg for resources, and women have to leave the state for healthcare.

I refuse to believe this is as good as we can do.

I’m running for State Senate in a district plenty of people would look at on a map and immediately write off. We haven’t.

The other night, we were supposed to have a candidate forum hosted by nonpartisan community organizations. My opponent didn’t show up, but I did. And I’ll keep showing up.

That evening pissed me off because if you’re asking someone for the privilege of representing them, you should be willing to stand in front of them, answer their questions, listen when they disagree with you and explain what you’re actually going to do.

Nobody has a right to your vote because there’s an R or a D next to their name. Candidates should have to earn it.

We’re trying to run our campaign that way too. We don’t take corporate PAC money, we haven’t raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we don’t have huge checks coming in with expectations attached.

Our campaign looks like someone sending us $5, a group of volunteers writing postcards around a kitchen table, someone knocking doors after work, and people who have never been involved in politics nervously making their first phone call.

Those things don’t make national news, but they’ve built this campaign.

We’re running against a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate in a district people have been told is too red to change. I don’t know what would happen if the people who have given up on voting decided to come back. But I want to find out.

If you haven’t voted because you don’t think your vote matters, please reconsider this year. You don’t have to know everything about every race, and you don’t have to fill out every single part of your ballot. If you’ve voted Republican your whole life and there’s a Democrat you trust this time, you’re allowed to vote for them. Your ballot doesn’t change who you are.

Just don’t give your voice away because somebody convinced you it wasn’t worth anything.

If you want to get involved with a social worker, progressive candidate by donating or volunteering, you can find us at rootforindiana.org. We need you.

Hamilton County gave me a reason to believe something different is possible. Democratic primary turnout increased 248% because thousands of people made a choice to participate.

There are still so many people across Indiana who are frustrated, exhausted, or convinced that nothing will ever change here. They stopped believing anyone was listening.

I want them to know we are.

Indiana isn’t destined to be anything. Red isn’t something written into our state constitution. It’s the result of what voters show up and who we choose to put in office.

Indiana changes when you remember your vote matters.

Vote for the people you believe will make your life and your neighbors’ lives better. Bring someone with you who was planning to stay home. Talk to the person who thinks there is no point anymore.

There are enough people sitting on the sidelines to completely change the conversation in this state.

We just have to decide we’re done sitting there.