Reflections on the 2021 Election and What It's Signaling for 2022

In case you didn't realize, yesterday was election day for a number of state and local issues around the country. In Texas, there were 8 Constitutional Amendments which were approved by the voters. A number of local races led to a some historic wins around the country with several cities electing their first black mayor and Boston electing its first woman and person of color. On the gubernatorial level, there were several tight races in places like Virginia and New Jersey. Here are my reflections on the 2021 election.

Texas Constitutional Amendments

Unlike Congress, which has the authority by the US Constitution to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper," Texas only has the ability to operate what is in its constitution. As a result, Texas has had 507 constitutional amendments since its formation in 1876. As such, there were 8 proposed amendments this election cycle, which included whether the Rodeo could hold a charities, funding for local infrastructure projects, preventing the government from limiting religious services, changes in eligibility for judicial offices, expansion of judicial conduct investigations to extend to judicial candidates, ability to designate caregivers by assisted living facilities, extending the homestead tax limit of surviving spouses of the disabled, and extending the homestead tax to surviving spouses of deceased members of the military.

All 8 of the provisions were ratified by the voters. Most of the provisions are a clear reaction to the past year and half of dealing with the pandemic. Of particular concern is the third provision, which prevents the state from limiting religious services. This would have meant that during the height of the pandemic, local municipalities would have had no recourse to preventing super spreader events at religious institutions, which could have put their entire communities at greater risk for spreading the disease. Additionally, what the lawmakers probably failed to realize is that with this new provision they have opened the door to ALL religions, even the ones they might not agree with. So if the Church of Satan decides to have a service that includes a public orgy, they will have seriously tied their own hands in addressing it.

Big Cities Are Still Seeing Historical Firsts

A number of cities across the country elected new mayors and a number of them are historical elections. Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and St. Petersburg, Florida each elected its first black mayor. In Boston, Michelle Wu beat out her more moderate opponent and became the city's first woman and first person of color to serve as mayor. These signs signal that many major cities are appearing to be more open-minded and like in Wu's case, preferring the more liberal messaging over a more moderate one. If these trends continue, hopefully that means more progressive local policies in more major cities. Also, hope that these cities do not end up at odds with their state legislatures at many turns, in a similar manner of the way our Democratic leaning policies in big Texas cities, run afoul of the the legislative priorities of the predominantly conservative state legislative body.

CRT and Other Educational Issues Seem to Be Fueling Right Wing Voters

Democrats suffered a devastating blow in Virginia, where Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated former Governor Terry McAuliffe and in New Jersey the election was too close to call the evening of the election and wasn't declared for the Democratic incumbent until the next day. Both of these races took place in states where Joe Biden won by double digits. While there are a variety of reasons that contribute to this upset, including the Biden's current low polling numbers, one of the things that pushed Youngkin over the top was his running on reforming education and banning things like Critical Race Theory (CRT) from the classroom. For the record, CRT is not a subject taught at the K-12 level or even the undergraduate level, but this message appears to have been particularly effective among white women, who although a majority voted for Joe Biden just last year, voted overwhelmingly for Republican Youngkin.

Youngkin is not alone in his leaning into education space for votes. Many conservatives have moved their culture war into the classrooms and in the process caused a number of parents to go to school board meetings and demand that CRT not be taught to their children. In many conservatives states like Texas, the restriction on teaching CRT at the K-12 level made its way into law. In spite of this, conservative public officials seem to want to restrict the educational curriculum even more. Governor Greg Abbott recently asked school districts to get rid of books in their library that he labeled as "pornographic." However, when you look closer at the list of books he lists, there are a number that cover topics like the Black Lives Matter movement.

The point seems to be that conservatives have found a message that resonates with their base in the education space and they have every intent on using it for to their advantage, even if it is mostly lies and half-truths (see my previous post for a more in-depth discussion on the the framing of race in the curriculum). My take is if the only thing you can add to the education debate is that you don't like a subject that isn't taught at the k-12 level, you should stay out of the conversation, because putting limitations on education is not one that will help expand the minds of children.

Conclusion

In short, this year's election has shown some progress in certain major cities, but troubling signs that I would take note of on the Democratic side of the aisle. Conservative messaging, although full of lies and half-truths that are repeated so much that they are being believed by masses of people, especially white women. If the Democrats plan on holding on to Congress next year, they better take serious note and create their own messaging on these topics.