And so it begins ...

Traditionally, local elections varied between odd and even years with, for instance, two seats on a board up for election one year, then three the next. Now, it is every other year, with elections mostly being on even years to coincide with the gubernatorial or presidential elections. Those typically have higher turnouts, and the idea was to increase voter participation in elections. While the idea is solid, it also meant a consolidation of elections in a timeframe that is already shrinking.

How is that, you might ask? As all-mail ballots become more popular, voting is done earlier and earlier and a typical campaign season is thus truncated. So while the kickoff is today (Wednesday, Aug. 12, if you consider that the deadline is extended if an incumbent does not file), that would typically leave about three months for the true campaign season until the November Election Day, though many suggest the campaign doesn’t truly launch until after Labor Day. Whether that still holds true, who knows. What is clear is that campaigns are concentrated into September as ballots are mailed out as soon as Oct. 5, about a month prior to Election Day Nov. 3, and many people fill them out and mail them promptly. Politicos used to say that many people still waited to see what surprises may be in store in the campaign, but the top of this year’s ticket may mean people will act quicker than normal. After all, when the top choices are Trump or Biden, most people have already made up their mind and won’t need a debate or campaign appearances to sway them one way or the other.

So the essence is that September will be the heart of the election season and there will be about 40 local races in the Daily Journal coverage area though it is unknown at this point if all will be contested. There will also be local measures and state propositions. That means the election season is shaping up to be a busy time for us. In 2018, I looked out on the terrain and identified this stretch as a challenge to cover all of the races. Little did I know that the landscape of almost all of 2020 would be challenging. Yet here we are.

Typically, we would begin our editorial endorsement process of in-person individual and group interviews, stories and editorials right after the filing deadline. This year will be a bit different in that the interviews will be conducted through online video services and we will get through them as best we can.

In this process, we seek to stick to key issues and navigate in-depth ideas on those issues as we write about the individual races and measure campaigns locally both on our news side and on the opinion page. This is part of our mission and we take it seriously. We seek to balance perspectives in our news coverage and share our newspaper’s opinion with our endorsements, which are separate.

A bit of housekeeping is in order. If you are a candidate for office, feel free to reach out by phone or email to let us know more about your campaign, but please understand that we will do a story when we gather other candidates for our interview as part of our editorial endorsement process. If you are a proponent or opponent of a measure, please do the same. Also, please note we do not allow guest perspectives on our opinion page from political candidates or those in support or opposition of a political candidate, state proposition or local measure after the filing deadline. Letters to the editor of about 250 words are always allowed on any topic and from anyone.

While this is a challenging time for all, conducting this in-depth look at our local candidates and measures is key to our area’s governance. Let’s navigate this terrain in a civil and responsible way together. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.