Faith in Local Officials Higher Than DC
As approval ratings for congress hit an all-time low, voters across the board share a more favorable view of their local and state elected officials.
Axios reported that two-thirds of adults felt that 14 percent of the time their local officials cared about the people they represent “all or most” of time time while 53 percent of them felt they cared “some” of the time.
When it comes to accurately reporting information to the public, 64 percent felt that local officials did that “some of the time” while only 46 percent felt the same about their members of Congress. Out of all of the elected officials considered, police officers and public school principals received the highest rankings in terms of trust.
The report found that as Congress stalls on issues that most Americans care about, states and local governments have been advancing these issues on both sides of the aisle.
Some examples of these are Mayors from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Columbia, South Carolina moving to enact gun control ordinances or Miami, Los Angeles, and Houston tackling climate change initiatives. Even in terms of housing, Minneapolis and Oregon moved to ban single-family zoning as a way to address the growing unaffordability.
The results aren’t an endorsement of the policies being implemented, just a reflection of the electorate’s feelings that their local officials are acting on policies and actually governing while the federal government stands still. As gridlock remains in Washington D.C., cities and states will increasingly look to take things into their own hands and address situations as they arise, which is why being involved in the local process is important now more than ever.
