Shaheed Minder would rather vote for the people who run Charlotte than the politicians who represent him in Raleigh or Washington, D.C.
Why? Because he can get in local leaders' faces and hold them accountable for promises they made on the campaign trail. That's why Minder plans to be at the polls on Nov. 8, when Charlotte voters will decide whether Anthony Foxx will continue as mayor or relinquish the office to his Republican challenger Scott Stone. Other races include the factious District 3 election, which will produce a historic result either way: the district's first Republican city council representative or the city's first openly gay council member.
Minder, 37, a father of four, gets excited about city and county elections because, he said, the political effects of what goes on in local government are felt immediately.
"I can go up to Anthony Foxx's office and I can make it so that it is hard for them to ignore what my concerns are," said Minder, who owns a software-development business. "If they ignore the needs of real citizens and put the interests of lobbyists and big business over the concerns of the people, then it's easier for me to make some noise on the local level than on the state level."
It appears Minder is in the minority. Look at the September local primary — only 2 percent of voters turned up at the polls — and it's clear that most people are more bedazzled by the bells and whistles of national politics.
"These are down-ballot, off-year elections," said Josh Putnam, visiting assistant professor of political science at Davidson College. "It's understood that the turnout is going to be low."
Putnam said it's up to a particular municipality to decide whether or not to hold an election during the hoopla surrounding a presidential race. "Some opt to lump that in on a presidential primary year and others opt to avoid that," he said. "That certainly has implications for turnout in the primaries and also for the general elections. It's typically much lower without the presidential election."
The presidential election of 2008 fired up a whopping 66 percent of local voters, who lined up at the polls, as Americans did everywhere, in no small part due to the historic nature of the race. Since President Obama has been in office, though, voter participation in the Charlotte area has fizzled. The citywide mayoral election of 2009 attracted only 21 percent of voters, and this year, with the upcoming 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte hogging so much news space, voters seem more confused or apathetic than ever about local races.
"If this was next year, everyone would know that it's election day," said Jessica Wood, campaign manger for Republican mayoral candidate Stone. "We've really had to contact voters and let them know that the election is this year and not next year."
Not even controversy brought out many voters for the September primary. One of the most contested races was District 3, which pitted Democratic incumbent Warren Turner, who had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, against political newcomer LaWana Mayfield and business owner Svend Deal. Fewer than 1,800 people voted and Mayfield won, unseating Turner. She now faces Republican Ed Toney.
Mecklenburg County Board of Elections head Michael Dickerson said he believes more people will vote on Nov. 8 because, unlike the primary race, this election involves races that Republicans and Democrats alike care about. In the primary election, mostly Democrats faced opposition and only one Republican, Warren Cooksey, had an opponent. Historically, primary participation has been around 5 percent, Dickerson said, adding that participation in general elections ranges from 20 to 25 percent.
The big question this week is: Will Charlotte voters turn out on Nov. 8? There's certainly plenty at stake. For starters:
• The re-election of Charlotte's first Democratic mayor since Harvey Gantt in 1983, or the election of a new mayor without any prior political experience.
• A new District 3 representative to replace Turner, whose accomplishments over eight years included major transit improvements and the clean-up of Wilkinson Boulevard.
• A new representative for District 5, which includes East Charlotte, an area that's seen economic decline, the closure of Eastland Mall and a heavy influx of Latino, African and Korean immigrants.
• Four at-large city council seats.
Not every voter knows or cares much about these races, though. Toria Boldware, president of the Mecklenburg County Young Democrats, said it's been an uphill battle this year for her to capture the interest of people between 18 and 35. Some of them, she said, removed themselves from the electoral process after the 2008 election of Obama because they thought "they had done their job."
"People are saying, 'We're voting for mayor again? I didn't know there was an election,'" said Boldware.
That's where Shirley Dancy, a volunteer for the Anthony Foxx campaign, comes in. We sat with Dancy on a recent Tuesday evening as she made several calls to potential voters. During one call, Dancy patiently explained to a voter where the early voting locations were and what times the polling places were open. She said more than a few people she called were not aware that it was time to vote again.
Calls like those are why Foxx volunteers Howard and Mildred Campbell opened their home to Dancy and about 10 others working to get the mayor re-elected. Sitting in her den dialing voters from a list of names, Campbell said some people actually know about the election and still choose not to vote. Those are the calls that disturb her the most.
"In elections like these, people are likely to be apathetic about what's going on," said Campbell. "But we have so many important things going on in our city and our county that you need to let your voice be heard."
As Campbell spoke to voters, asking if they planned to go to the polls and go early, she stressed that a city can only be as strong as its leadership.
Mecklenburg County Democratic chairperson Aisha Dew said that while she would like for all Democrats to win on Nov. 8, what's most important to her is that all people know about the election and care enough to vote. "With my Democratic Party cap on, I'd definitely like to see our base turn out so that we can win. But I definitely don't see 2-percent voter turnout desirable under any conditions," Dew said, alluding to the September primary.
Although Republican candidate Stone's campaign manager expressed some concern about low primary turnout, she's also pretty confident voters will go to the polls on Nov. 8. "We've had phone banks going in our office, and the volunteers in our office have made about 1,200 phone calls last week and are on pace to make 2,000 this week," said Wood.
Neither Foxx nor Stone put much money into huge billboards or television advertisements, although two weeks before the election, Foxx did run TV ads focusing on job creation, education and public safety. Both campaigns are counting more on word of mouth to get people to the polls. Stone's volunteers are even organizing early voting parties.
Foxx campaign manager Michael Halle said his volunteers, too, have been working the phones hard. With a team of nearly 300 manning phones from the campaign headquarters or their homes, the Foxx campaign is optimistic that the mayoral race will draw more than the paltry 2-percent turnout of the September primary. Halle has reason to be confident; between July and October, he said, the Foxx campaign made more than 150,000 calls to voters. "Turnout is going to be a gigantic part of this election," he said.
Then there are residents like Joe Hart, a 37-year-old disgruntled freelance artist who has no plans to vote, no matter who calls him. Hart, a father of two, said he once voted in every election. He was happy in 2009 when Charlotte elected a new mayor, but his happiness quickly turned to apathy.
"I thought things would change with Pat McCrory being gone, but it's the same old politics," said Hart.
To Hart, McCrory was a walking conflict of interest, not just because he simultaneously served as mayor and a Duke Energy employee, but also because he gave big business too many breaks in Charlotte, Hart said. He pointed to the way McCrory shoved through the building of Time Warner Cable Arena despite public opposition. Once a Democratic mayor was elected, Hart expected to see local government focus more on the community, especially areas hardest hit by the economic downturn.
"With Anthony Foxx, I'm not seeing a change," said Hart, whose complaint sounds similar to national complaints about President Obama from many of those who helped vote him in. "When you switch from a Republican to a Democrat, you expect to see a difference."
Hart wanted to see the new mayor push for progress in all levels of local government, bringing together city council, county commissioners and the school board. He wanted to see city officials work harder on programs that benefited young people as well as the poor and homeless. And he wanted to see more social initiatives, which he believes is a cornerstone of the Democratic strategy.
When Hart failed to see those big changes, he lost hope. "I'm pretty much out of politics altogether," he said.
Campbell has a message for Hart and other non-voters. "Everyone needs to be out there expressing themselves," she said. "And with a person not exercising the right to vote, you can't complain about who gets in there."
Key races to be aware of on Nov. 8:
Mayor: Incumbent Anthony Foxx vs. newcomer Scott Stone
Foxx stands on his record. Stone says Foxx hasn't done enough to fix Charlotte's economy.
District 3: Democrat LaWana Mayfield, a community activist who defeated longtime incumbent Warren Turner in September, vs. Republican Ed Toney.
A Republican hasn't represented District 3 in over a decade.
District 5: Democrat John Autry vs. Republican Dennis Peterson.
The east side will have a new representative who will face a host of problems, economic blight, a perception of high crime and a feeling that the city ignores the area.