1. Sundays I’m going to continue talking about engagement and how to get involved.

Did you know that 40 municipalities in Tennessee are scheduled to hold elections in 2021? https://twitter.com/matthewrpark/status/1327005169045958661

2. . @matthewrpark, Co-Executive Director for @ChangeTN_, has been recruiting candidates and drawing much needed attention to these 2021 elections.

3. Municipal races are incredibly important because they build benches and set candidates up to run for bigger offices down the road if they do choose.

4. Every single one of us has said: “I wish my elected officials would do __________.” And we can fill in the blank with any number of issues and make this statement for any level of government.

5. Just in case someone hasn’t asked you to run, consider this an official ask from me to you.

6. It’s okay that you don’t (yet) know every detail about campaigning, but you’re a retired teacher who knows teacher voices are important on the school board. Your voice matters and you should run for office.

7. Maybe the roads in your neighborhood are constantly filled with potholes and rarely get any investment from your city or town’s government. You should run for office.

8. You should recruit the person to run for office who is going to address these issues. You should work on the campaigns for people who are running for office.

9. You should donate your time and funds to these candidates. You should volunteer with your county Democratic Party to turn out the vote for these candidates.

10. Even if you live in a county that doesn’t have a municipal election, you should volunteer with that county— even if the county isn’t next door. You can donate, text, phone bank, and share social media posts for these candidates.

11. The best solutions come from communities who organize, who collaborate around shared goals and missions. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

12. If you are interesting in running for office, contact your county Democratic Party, contact the Tennessee Democratic Party, contact your TNDP Executive Committee members, contact Change TN, and you can also reach out to me.

13. The same list for if you’re interested in working on or volunteering for a campaign.

14. Despite the perception, local races are just as sexy as state and federal races and the decisions made at the local level have a direct and immediate impact on our communities.

Filing deadlines are approaching. Let’s elect change together in 2021.