Election day for the November 2024 elections is exceedingly close, and millions have already cast their ballot through early and mail-in voting. When it comes to the top of the ticket, who to vote for might feel like a fairly easy choice. But for some that choice still has a question mark over it, but not because it’s hard to decide whether Harris or Trump is better for the country or for queer people: the stakes there are fairly clear.
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But ultimately, Harris is not the perfect candidate for a lot of voters. Many are turned off by her history as a prosecutor. Harris’ centrism on various issues can leave people feeling cold. And she’s refused to take a hard line against genocide in Palestine beyond declining to meet with Netanyahu when he addressed Congress. While it might be hard for her to speak out against Biden’s direction on the Middle East while still his VP, going out and voting for her with that on the table is a challenge for many people. Ultimately, Harris is considered by most to be a better choice than Trump on all of those issues and more. But if you’re not in a swing state, it might feel like staying home and withholding your vote from Harris is a good way to send a message that “Not Trump” isn’t enough of a selling point.
But there’s still a good reason to go to the ballot box this year, regardless of where you live and whether you want to vote for Harris or not. We’ve been told time and again that this is the most important election of our lives (a line that some of us might be getting tired of hearing every four years). And if Trump is elected, that will certainly have profoundly bad consequences for the country and the people who live here. But there’s reason to believe that the presidential election isn’t actually the most important election this November.
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In 2025 and beyond, whoever wins the presidency will have a lot of influence on the federal level. They’ll be able to steer the direction of the United States to a large degree. But down-ballot races are easily as important this year. The only silver lining to the rise in anti-trans bills and sentiments in certain areas over the last ten years is that it provides us a viewpoint. Through that lens, it is easier to understand just how important these down-ballot races can be, as we’ve seen things get worse for trans people across the country despite having a Democrat in the White House.
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Congress: The Senate and The House of Representatives
This year, there are 33 seats up for election in the Senate, along with all 435 House seats. If you keep up with politics outside of major elections, you probably know how important control of the House and Senate can be. Being the president of the United States gives a lot of power, but if you want to enact anything outside of executive orders (which do have their limits, whatever Trump might think), then you have to be able to convince the House and the Senate to work on the bills you want to see moving forward.
To get a good idea of the impact that controlling the Senate can have for a party, we can look at Kamala Harris’ own LGBTQ+ record from her years in the Republican-controlled Senate from 2016 to 2021. Harris worked on bills to support the LGBTQ+ community by prohibiting discrimination against them. She pushed to ban the use of federal funds in conversion therapy. And she co-sponsored bills that would have banned the gay and trans panic defenses on a federal level. None of these bills were ever brought for a vote because while the Senate had 46 Democrats and Independents from 2017 to 2019, and 49 from then to 2021, Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was never going to bring these bills to the floor. The same can be said for the House.
Which party has control of the House and Senate is down to the number of seats, nothing more. So even if the candidate in your district isn’t perfect, if they will caucus with politicians you support then it is worth casting a vote for them. Even if you don’t want to vote for president.
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The States: Governors, Senates, and Houses
The president and Congress are all important on the federal level, but don’t underestimate the importance of the state-level positions. Anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion laws have become a huge issue across large parts of the country. None of those were put into place by the president or Congress. The state Houses and Senates brought those to vote, and a governor signed them into law. There’s a reason we all know who Ron DeSantis is.
The states are where hate groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom and organizations like the Heritage Foundation (who are behind Project 2025) bring pre-written bills and put on pressure to get them passed. If your state has members who are willing to bring these pre-written hateful bills to a vote and a party majority who will go along, they’ll get passed. If those bills are bad enough to be unconstitutional and are challenged, then those can become test cases taken all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and set precedents that will challenge laws across the country.
Getting a bill passed at the federal level when you don’t hold those three branches of government can be a headache. But it’s easier at the state-level, creating states where people have to be in fear for their lives and opening a backdoor for setting federal precedent. Because of those risks it is worth making sure you vote. Even if you’re not in a swing state, and even if you don’t want to vote for president.
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Keep looking down-ballot
It might feel like it is reasonable to stop there, but make sure you research and go all the way to the very bottom of your ballot. There are many elected officials in your state who might not seem worth worrying about, but they hold real power (and maybe shouldn’t be elected positions, really). This includes judges, sheriffs, and most importantly, school boards.
School boards in particular have been major areas for anti-trans activists to make headway. In these elected positions, school board members have defined what can be taught in schools, what books can be on the curriculum, and how much freedom children and teachers can have. When it comes to celebrating Pride, having diverse materials in the classroom, playing sports, and even going to the bathroom, school boards hold too many cards. So make sure you research the people standing for those positions in your area and vote for the ones who will give our kids the best chances. Even if you don’t want to vote for president.
Ballot initiatives
Of course, you don’t just vote for people when you cast your ballot, you also vote for ideas. Ballot initiatives are often sneaky. Voters might not remember to research them before getting to the ballot box, and the way that they are worded can often obfuscate what they’re really all about. Make sure that you research in-depth what is being proposed before you vote.
You might think that there aren’t any important ballot questions this year, but it is worth checking. In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, some (such as justice Clarence Thomas) are now looking at Obergefell v. Hodges, the SCOTUS case that legalized same-sex marriage across the United States. As many states still have anti-same-sex marriage laws on the books, if Obergefell were overturned, those marriages would become illegal again. There are matters on the ballot to put protections in place for same-sex marriage in California, Colorado, and Hawai’i. So make sure you take a thorough look at what will be on your ballot, and cast a vote on it, even if you don’t want to vote for president.
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Bottom line
The anti-trans platform has been failing for Republicans in a lot of campaigns in recent years. However, that is only true when people turn out, and you can count on Republicans turning out in high numbers to support Trump. And even if Trump is going to lose in your state anyway, or you have reservations about voting for Harris, we need people to vote in state legislatures and school boards who will support the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans youth.
In swing states, we need every vote. Really, unless the state is a sure thing, we should still be cautious, because nobody really knows what might happen in this election. But if you can’t vote for Harris this November, you still need to go to the ballot box, because there are more important issues on the ticket, and we need to send a message.
The electoral college system doesn’t work. The two-party system is broken. We desperately need election reform, but we won’t get that between now and November 5, so we have to play the hand we’re dealt. If you want to send a message about being dissatisfied with your presidential choices, you can leave the presidential selection blank if you must and vote down-ballot. Doing that sends a clear message to the party that can’t be dismissed as apathy. But make sure that you cast your vote on ballot measures, school boards, state legislatures, and Congress. Even if you don’t want to vote for president. ♦
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