Nataley Davis | staff writer

John Brenner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League, said that he thinks one reason why most people don’t get involved in local elections is because they don’t always take into consideration all the work city and state politicians do.

“People are largely happy with their services that they get at the local level. Most people don’t really think about having clean water to drink and having wastewater services operate efficiently,” Brenner said. “These things happen all the time, and we take it for granted.”

On Nov. 4, Pittsburgh voters will elect a new mayor, city council members, a county sheriff, county council members, judges, justices and school board directors. But across the United States, about 15 to 27% of eligible voters cast a ballot in their local elections, according to the National Civic League.

Lew Irwin, a political science professor at Duquesne, said the policies that local elections deal with directly affect people’s lives.

“What you come to learn as you live more life and as you get out there into the professional world and start to get engaged in the community, is that these elections and these campaigns, and the administrations that result from them, they’re really important in terms of defining the quality of life that we all enjoy,” Irwin said.

The professor said that local administrations make decisions on how the community deals with emergency response, crime, revitalization projects and public safety.

There are several groups at Duquesne committed to being involved in Pittsburgh-based politics.

Riley Hunter, the president of an unaffiliated chapter of College Democrats made up of Duquesne students, said that the group is proudly supporting Democratic nominee Corey O’Connor in the upcoming election. The main policy that drew the group to O’Connor is his focus on creating affordable housing, which Hunter said is an issue important to students living in Pittsburgh.

“I think we tend to think about politics just on the national … But issues that I think are most prevalent to students, such as, if you want to live in an apartment off-campus, or things like local taxes, which can really affect you, can start at the state level,” Hunter said.

Duquesne’s College Republicans have decided not to stand behind Republican nominee Tony Moreno because the Republican Committee of Allegheny County has not endorsed him. Instead, they are focusing on promoting city and county council candidates.

Jonathan Collins, who is president of the organization, said that they are supporting Allegheny County Council candidate Mary Jo Wise in an effort to have more balance between the parties in Pittsburgh. There currently are two Republicans out of the 15 members on Allegheny County Council and no Republicans on Pittsburgh City Council.

“We see it as important to get Republicans in [office], just to have that amount of compromise,” Collins said.

“I believe that compromise of people’s opinions brings about the best form of governance. And when you only have one party, whether it be Republican or Democrat that rules, you don’t necessarily see immense success.”

For people who want to get involved with local politics but don’t know where to start, Brenner recommended looking at a local voter’s guide to learn about the candidates, volunteering at a local municipality’s board and reaching out to see what education opportunities are available.

He said that city and state elections are always going to directly affect how people in the community live, which is why it’s vital to support local government.

“These elections are important to your future regardless if you are in your college town or if you live nearby or even in another place in the future, you’re always going to have local officials that are providing core services,” Brenner said. “It’s important to pay attention to that, and while you’re in school, show up and vote and pick the best people you can.”

Nataley Davis can be reached at davisn5@duq.edu