Why Vote When There's No Competition? States With Political Gerrymandering Are Electing Life-Long Lawmakers

Bad news for democracy.

There's a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. 

That's a real problem when lawmakers don't even have any competition on their path to state Houses and Senates.

Check this out... More than four-fifths of Mississippi's legislative candidates will have no major party opposition in the November 7, 2024, general election. And more than half of this year's winners will have faced no other Republicans or Democrats in either the primary or the general election.

Mississippi is just one of the highlights that show a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. The fix is in. And voters don't even get a choice of candidates. Lifetime lawmakers are becoming common.

And that leads to another, more insidious result; these politicians aren't being held accountable. They can do anything short of murder and not be taken to task.

"It's so bad that one party can win the chamber before an election takes place," said Steven Rogers, a political scientist at Saint Louis University who focuses on state legislatures.

A democracy "relies on the notion that the people will have a choice," Rogers added. But "without someone running for office, there really isn't a choice."

Rogers found that the legislative competition around the country has been dwindling for decades.

"Candidates don't want to run races they think they're going to lose," said Abhi Rahman, a communications director for the national Democratic Campaign Committee in a recent interview.

Both parties are to blame when it comes to stacking state legislators when they have a majority in a state.

One of the major setbacks in this growing problem is voter apathy. Why vote when you think your vote won't count? 

On top of that there's so much corruption among lawmakers who feel secure in their seats that the public just gets weary of the chaos and forfeits their right to vote.

America is facing overwhelming challenges at home and abroad. Defending democracy is paramount to the existence of the republic.

I'm asking everyone to vote, regardless of the circumstances because without voting their voices will never be heard. Write in a candidate if there's no good choice. 

As it stands, don't lose your freedoms standing on the sidelines.