local civics 101
State & local government is important. It affects our daily lives directly every single day- from the roads we drive on and air we breathe, to the quality of our public schools, and even what we are allowed to do with our own bodies (!).
These Elections are often decided by just a few hundred or a few thousand people, BUT most of us don't even know who our representatives are.
An important part of making sure that the laws in your community reflect your values is making sure that the people you elect to create those laws reflect your values, too.
So, let’s learn learn about the people that we’ve elected and whether they really are the people we want to have such an outsized impact on our lives (or not).
Let's start at the beginning...
The state of Ohio is broken into 88 counties. Mason & Deerfield Township are in Warren County.
Mason & Deerfield Township are located in the Southwest corner of the county.
We have different representatives at that state, county and local city/township levels. Because we have an election coming up in November for our state-level representatives, let’s start there.
A quick definition: a legislature – is basically an organized group of people that have the power to make laws for a certain area
The legislature in Ohio is called the Ohio General Assembly. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
The House and Senate are responsible for different districts, or areas they represent. Because there are fewer senators, they cover larger areas. As you can see in purple below, the boundaries often cross over more than one county. Let’s talk gerrymandering later 😉
The majority of Mason & Deerfield Township are in State Senate District 7 (purple) & State House District 56 (blue).
THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS OUT OF DATE... We were busy fighting abortion bans. We will update before the next election!
This is a project started by one of our members. The intent is to help our community be more informed so we can make better choices and have the laws of our community actually reflect our values.
In the spirit of learning together, please email us at masondeerfielddemocrats@gmail.com if you find a mistake or see something that needs to be updated. If you know about something you think would be a good addition or you have a question please reach out! The more perspectives we get, the better!