Washington Watch
NARFE GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY LEARN MORE about how you can take action to protect your earned pay and benefits by reviewing NARFE Grassroots materials at www.narfe.org/advocacy.
A Robust Grassroots Effort Keeps NARFE Issues Above 2022 Campaign Noise
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s we approach the midterm elections, campaigning will begin to dominate congressional schedules, leaving few opportunities to get actual business done in Congress. While midterm elections determine the outcomes of dozens of governors’ races, hundreds of mayoral contests, and thousands of battles for state legislative seats, many eyes will be on Congress. Four hundred sixty-nine seats in the U.S. Congress—34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats—are up for election on November 8, 2022, and the political parties will battle for control of both chambers. Whoever controls the House or the Senate controls the agenda in that chamber. The majority party determines who leads important congressional committees and what bills will be considered on the House or Senate floor. And in this increasingly polarized political environment, the White House’s ability to accomplish its legislative agenda, for better or worse, depends on whether its party controls the two houses of Congress. How will reapportionment and redistricting affect the upcoming elections? Reapportionment is the process of reassigning congressional seats among the states after the decennial census. Redistricting is the process of 10
NARFE MAGAZINE APRIL 2022
drawing new electoral boundaries, a requirement that also takes place after the census. The results of the 2020 census have redrawn district lines in every multipledistrict state. States with more than one district, even those that did not gain or lose districts, must redraw district boundaries to match internal population shifts. The end goal? Equal numbers, to the greatest extent practical, of people in every district, nationwide. Redistricting and reapportionment will affect the 2022 election results, as some states may lose or gain districts and have highly competitive races. At this point, most states have wrapped up redistricting, while others are deep into the process. NARFE members should follow this year’s candidates and races closely, as they will likely be affected by these changes and may have new congressional representation in 2023. Nonpartisan websites like FiveThirtyEight (www. fivethirtyeight.com) and BallotPedia (www.ballotpedia. org) track the redistricting process throughout the country and provide election information, such as opinion polls, analysis, politics and economics. It will be important for NARFE members and leaders to get to know their new Representatives and make sure that legislators are up to speed on NARFE’s issues. A robust NARFE
grassroots effort will ensure that discussion of our priority issues won’t get buried under campaign noise and other competing interests. Candidates are seeking ample opportunities to interact with constituents, packing their schedules with town halls, meet-and-greets, candidate forums and other events. NARFE members can visit the Town Hall Project website at www.townhallproject.com and enter their ZIP code to access a list of events in their district and throughout the state. Candidates will also seek invitations from constituent groups to speak at conferences and meetings, so federation and chapter leaders are encouraged to invite candidates to speak at NARFE events, allowing members the opportunity to voice their concerns in a small group setting. Before you interact with candidates, be prepared to discuss the issues. Consult NARFE’s issue briefs available on the advocacy page of NARFE’s website (www.narfe. org). Afterwards, tell us about your interaction by emailing advocacy@narfe.org. Thank you for showing up, supporting NARFE’s grassroots advocacy activities and making your voice heard. —BY MARSHA PADILLA-GOAD, DIRECTOR, GRASSROOTS PROGRAM
