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Civics 101

Midterm Edition: State and Local Elections

Civics 101

NHPR

History, Government, Society & Culture

4.22.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2018

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Midterm elections don't have the glitz or drama of presidential campaigning. They're full of aldermen and comptrollers, state senators and governors. These offices seem meager next to national government. But most of the time, it's state and local officials that have the most palpable impact on our lives and on our future elections. In episode two of our five-part series on the midterm elections, we're taking a good look at the state and local offices that have a big-time impact on your life.  CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Nick, as you know, in our last episode, we talked about what midterm elections are and why

0:06.0

they matter.

0:07.0

You know, all the sweeping implication stuff, how midterms can affect the country with

0:12.0

congressional redistricting and this referendum on the president and potentially flipping

0:16.4

the House and the Senate and infusing Congress with all of these new ideas and setting the

0:21.1

stage for massive change.

0:23.8

But today, I want to think small.

0:28.5

Like how small?

0:30.8

Like local small.

0:33.6

Let's start with the town up north in New Hampshire with about 7,000 residents.

0:38.8

That is small.

0:40.6

In August, I drove up to Plymouth, New Hampshire.

0:44.1

It's a little college town in a place called Grafton County.

0:48.0

Really charming.

0:49.0

There's a town green with a gazebo and an old tiny diner, a covered bridge.

0:53.4

Of course, it's got a covered bridge.

0:54.8

It's very New England.

0:56.5

And across the street from the town green in what used to be a bookstore is the office

1:01.9

of the Plymouth area Democrats.

1:06.1

So that's the sound of people doing the wave.

1:09.0

Which wave?

1:10.0

The blue wave?

...

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