Why are there so many uncontested elections at the local level?

On this episode: It might come as a bit of a surprise that between 2018 and 2023, over half of the elections that took place were uncontested, meaning that there was one, or even zero, candidates vying for seats in those races. That figure this year was closer to 70% – the highest we’ve seen since we began collecting data on local elections in 2018. Winning an election is obviously a whole lot easier if you’re not running against anybody, and the implications of where and how this plays raises important questions about why folks aren’t running for office, what effect it has on local politics, and what, if anything, could be done to reverse the trend. 

Explore our in-depth analysis: https://ballotpedia.org/Analysis_of_uncontested_elections,_2024 

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*On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.