As I sat down at my desk in history class to start a warm-up sheet in November, I was a little surprised to see the questions my history teacher, Pat Scallen, asked us to answer. He didn’t give us questions about D.C. history, the focus of the first semester of ninth-grade history, like he normally does. Instead, he asked us to answer questions about the recent elections in New York City, Virginia and New Jersey.
When Scallen asked us who the newly elected governor of New Jersey, mayor of New York and governor of Virginia were, I realized how little I knew about each of the races. As Scallen reviewed the warm-up sheet in class, I soon realized how little my peers knew about the elections as well.
Of the 15 students I interviewed, only five said they had followed the November elections in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City. When I applied to GDS, I understood that it was a progressive school with politically engaged students. Even though students keep up on current events and the history department teaches students about politics, GDS students should take a closer look at local political races.
While most students seem to pay as much attention to presidential races, I haven’t found the same to be true for local and state elections. Even though it’s not a given that students should follow elections outside of where they live, elections in other towns, cities and states have national impacts.
Elections, like in Virginia and New York, for example, place leaders in positions where they can enact policy that inspires others to follow around the country. Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill both defeated their Republican challengers. Those two elections represent the mood of voters in those states, which can be used to understand what might happen during the next presidential election.
As voters head to the polls for local elections in other parts of the country, D.C. residents will soon be able to vote for their local representation too. The mayoral seat, U.S. House of Representatives delegate seat, attorney general position, council chair and seven of 13 seats on the D.C. Council are up for election in primaries set for June and a general election in November.
Three candidates in these elections are connected to our school. GDS parent Kenyan McDuffie is running for D.C. mayor. Kinney Zalesne, who is running to fill Eleanor Holmes Norton’s seat as the House delegate, is a parent of three alumni. Norton is also a parent of a GDS alum. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who is a parent of two alumni, is running for reelection. Students should be engaged in D.C. politics as much as the adults in our community are.
When I interviewed history teacher Marjorie Hale, who teaches Upper-Level American Government, she explained how politics affects everyone even if you aren’t involved in politics everyday. “You send your children to school; you drive on roads; you have to figure out what it means that some people have more and some people have less in this world.”
High school students are just a few years away from voting. Some twelfth-grade students can already vote. Students in other grades should look into politics now, so that when their time to vote comes, they already know what the political landscape looks like. The way political leaders like the mayor or attorney general govern directly impacts our everyday lives. Moreover, as authoritarian-style government spreads in our country, the rights and freedoms of people of all ages are at risk.
When Zohran Mamdani was running for mayor in New York City, I followed his social media account where he posted campaign videos. Social media is a powerful tool at our disposal. It is an easy way for students to follow elections and gather information from multiple perspectives. However, there can be lots of misinformation on social media, which can lead to false narratives, such as conspiracy theories that consumed political discourse about the 2020 election. Students should always check what they see on social media with a reliable news source such as the Associated Press.
You should seek information about any upcoming election. It can mean as much as following your local city or county councilmember on Instagram. Any political engagement now will benefit you when you are older.