The first of my weekly essays appeared about three years ago, in early November of 2017. Since that time, I have endeavored to remain fiercely non-partisan and I will always continue to do so. I subscribe to the party of George Washington—none at all. These essays are about rural America. I write these essays to generate ideas for rural revitalization and to hopefully engage others in the leadership required for that revitalization to succeed. But in many ways, these essays are also about America as a whole. Our prosperity as a nation depends on the prosperity of all the communities—rural, urban, and suburban—that comprise this messy, diverse, flawed, and beautiful republic. I only hope that my words can positively contribute to the future of rural communities like Stamford and thus, our nation.
So, from that wholly nonpartisan perspective, let’s talk about the 2020 election. This is not about the presidential candidates or any of the issues in that race. It’s about a much bigger picture—America’s representative democracy.
I am inspired by our election results. The American people rose up and turned out to vote in a manner not seen in decades. While states are still crunching the final numbers, the U.S. Elections Project estimates that between 66.4% and 72.1% of the voting eligible population turned out to vote. This compares to 59.2% in 2016 and 54.9% in 2012. We have not crossed the threshold of 60% turnout since 1968. The 65% barrier has not been crossed since 1908! The last election with 70% turnout was 1900, when a young war hero named Theodore Roosevelt was William McKinley’s running mate. And keep in mind, the voting eligible population was a much smaller subset of our national population in those days, with neither women nor black Americans having the widespread right to vote. Simply put, a truly historic number of Americans turned out on November 3, 2020. By all accounts I’ve read, turnout was enormous in every demographic. Here in Stamford, we had a single contested City Council race. This district had seen very few contested races in the last 15-20 years, but turnout tripled the previous contested races! In Federalist No. 57, the anonymous author “Publius” (either James Madison or Alexander Hamilton) described voting as the fundamental article of republican government. In 2020, the American people renewed their belief in its importance.
American voters defied pollsters, consultants, and the media in numerous ways. Both parties fared poorly with various demographics—ethnicity, gender, income, and education—that had been viewed as reliable for those parties. Some voting blocs followed trends from 2016, others defied them. Voters behaved differently and elected differently. From the U.S. Congress to state legislatures, we elected more new, different faces than ever. Among other trends, we elected a record number of women and Native Americans to Congress. From age to ethnicity to cultural background, our elected officials are more representative of our country than ever. In many districts, candidates down the ballot received more votes than the top of the ticket, suggesting that those voters were far more enthusiastic about their choices for Congress or state legislature than for the presidency. This is a good thing for representation. The party leadership in both parties skews much older and I hope those leaders are listening. Voters are tired of the same old dysfunction and lack of ideas. Voters want different and they chose different across the land.
America was never designed to be governed from the top down. I’ll spare you the quotes from Jefferson and Tocqueville about the importance of local government (for now), but the Framers of our Constitution envisioned American government as a bottom-up affair. State and local governments were (and are) the most responsive to the people and would serve as the laboratories for new ideas. Public servants would build trust and consensus at lower levels, then take their ideas to higher levels. We were never expected to put all our hopes and dreams into a President. Good government would matriculate upwards to the federal level, not trickle downward from the Presidency.
In 2020, American voters showed up in record numbers. From both parties, Americans chose more representative candidates hailing from all segments of society. Americans clearly want good government matriculating upwards, not trickling downward. Democracy still works. People still care. People are still seeking better leaders. That, my friends, is a very good thing.
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the “West of 98” website and forthcoming podcast. He may be contacted at westof98.substack.com.
What I noticed in this election (and apparently this has been a phenomenon since at LEAST 2012) was on the interactive maps of red & blue: The STATE would be either, but with only a few exceptions regardless of the color of the state, the METRO areas would be blue and the RURAL areas would be red.
One pundit stated that the current election was simply a factor of more Suburbs (those places where urban and rural collide) were turning blue this time around.
It was shocking to me that the areas were so clear-cut.
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts, ideas, hopes, and concerns about this trend.