FAST FACTs:

✔The U.S. has no less than 87,900

local governments including 

municipalities, counties, townships,

school districts and special 

districts. 

-- U.S. Bureau of Census

With so much media coverage focusing on the presidential election this year,

it is easy to forget that in November 2004, there are elections for 34 U.S. Senate

seats and all 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as hundreds

of state and local leaders. 

The Senate races — along with the presidential race — appear to be heating up

throughout the country. The battleground states in the 2004 Senate race will most

likely be in the South. “There are five Democratic seats that are up for grabs in

southern states that prefer Republicans including North Carolina, South Carolina,

Georgia, Florida and Louisiana,” says Gary Nordlinger, a Washington D.C. political

consultant. “The odds favor the Senate staying in Republican control.”

President George W. Bush won all of these southern states in the 2000 presidential election and in three of them – South Carolina, Georgia, and North

Election

FOCUS

April 28, 2004 U.S. Department of State ISSUE 1 • NO 10

On April 20 the Republican mayor of

Elkhart, Indiana, David Miller and the

Democratic mayor of Tacoma, Washington, Bill

Baarsma spoke at the Foreign Press Center in

Washington, D.C., about their perspectives as local

leaders and important issues in the 2004 election.

Although the mayors belong to different

political parties and represent different geographical constituencies, they demonstrate that the old adage “all politics is local” still rings true. They each face

daily a myriad of issues that directly affect their constituencies.

However, these local leaders are also facing international issues from trade to

the war on terror, and funding needs after the September 11 terrorist attacks that

have required local governments to produce creative plans to insure their governments run smoothly and effectively. 

Two Mayors’

Perspectives on Local

2004 Election Issues 

(continued on page 3)

(continued on page 2)

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via email go to:

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Congressional, State Elections 

Heat Up

Inside This Issue:

• Congressional, State

Elections Heat up . . . page 1

• Mayors’ Perspectives on the

2004 Election and Local 

Politics . . . . . . . . . . page 1

• Campaign Highlight: 

How the Senate Races Are 

Shaping Up. . . . . . . . . . . page 5

Mayor David Miller, Elkhart, Indiana; Mayor

Bill Baarsma, Tacoma, Washington Foreign

Press Center Briefing, Washington, D.C. April

20, 2004
Carolina – won by 10 percentage

points or more. For this reason, many

commentators argue that the

Republican Party will maintain its

majority in the Senate and may even

gain seats. Republicans currently hold

51 seats against the Democrats’ 48.

One Senator is an Independent.

As for the Democrats, there are

Republican seats in Illinois and Alaska

where they believe they have a reasonable chance of picking up a Senate

seat, Nordlinger said. “But what you

will see coming out of these races is a

closely divided Senate regardless of

who’s in control.”

As in the presidential race, Senate

contests often involve a primary

process in which parties select their

candidate from several contenders. In

Pennsylvania, for example, there was

an unusually strong primary challenge

to Republican incumbent Arlen

Specter by conservative Congressman

Patrick Toomey who claimed that

Specter’s liberal stances on such issues

as reproductive rights, affirmative

action and labor, were not representative of the party’s philosophy.

Although they disagree on a number

of issues, President Bush campaigned

in support of Specter. It was generally

believed that Specter was more likely

to win against the Democratic challenger in November. On April 27

Specter won a narrow victory over

Toomey to become the Republican

candidate.

Every two years, all 435 members

of the U.S. House of Representatives

are up for re-election, unlike senators

who serve six-year terms. The

Republicans have had control of the

House for the last 10 years and currently have 228 seats compared to the

Democrats 205. Most analysts agree

that the 2004 election will not result in

a drastic change in the composition of

the House. 

“Barring a catastrophe, the House

is certain to remain Republican,”

Nordingler said. “They may even pick

up seats.”

According to Congressional

Quarterly, the Democratic Party would

need to maintain each of its vulnerable

seats and win almost all of the competitive seats held by Republicans in

order to gain a majority.

Having control of the Senate or

the House brings significant political

advantages. The majority party controls the legislative agenda in large

measure through the power of its committee chairs. Winning the Senate or

House is a major priority for both parties, second only in importance to

winning the White House. 

In addition to the national races in

2004, 11 states in total will hold races

for Governor with 8 incumbents running for re-election and three states

holding open elections as a result of

retirements. A number of state legislators are up for re-election as well.

Finally, there are elections scheduled

in most of the approximately 88,000

local government units across the

United States comprised of cities,

towns, municipalities, counties, townships, villages, school districts and

special districts.

Local government is the smallest

and most direct form of government in

the United States and party affiliation

at that level of government melt away

in favor of a candidate’s ability to perform the important and necessary

practical duties that exist at the local

level of government. From Mayors of

cities to town and village councilmen

and women, these local elected officials directly serve the needs of their

constituencies by providing services

such as police and fire protection,

education, housing and public transportation.

In an election year voters in local

elections can gauge the performance

of these local officials. If local needs

are not met — a voter can easily look

at the conditions of the roads in their

towns or the quality of the schools and

decide — the official may not be reelected. ■

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

2 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The U.S. Department of State is pleased to present its election coverage newsletter, Election Focus 2004. The 

newsletter will provide non-partisan coverage of the U.S. election process, featuring articles, interviews, public opinion

polls, and other information on the presidential primaries, debates, conventions and campaign activities of the major 

presidential candidates.

Election Focus 2004 is produced by the Democracy and Human Rights team in the Bureau of International Information

Programs.

— BUREAU OF —

INTERNATIONAL 

INFORMATION

PROGRAMS

THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

(continued from page 1)
Following are excerpts from the

Foreign Press Center briefing on

select topics of importance to mayors

and other local government leaders.

What is the role of a mayor

in politics today?

MAYOR MILLER: At the local level,

there is no elected officer that affects

people's day-to-day lives more than

the mayor. The things I address on a

day-to-day basis include trash pickup,

the condition of streets, police, fire

and 911 dispatch services, airports

and parks and everything in between,

including water and sewer issues. 

[Mayors] touch the lives of their

constituencies and are responsible for

the things that touch their lives probably more than the President, more than

senators, more than governors, more

than any other elected officer.

So it brings our responsibility

right to their front door. And because

we live in those folks’ neighborhoods,

we see them all the time. 

There isn’t a Republican or a

Democratic way to plow a street or to

pick up trash or to respond to a police

call or put out a fire. The partisan

politics that people may see on the

national level generally don't exist

much, or at least not with the same

steam, at the local levels.

So we have to find ways to work

with people to take care of their problems without respect to their party

politics.

MAYOR BAARSMA: I would share

the sentiments of the Mayor in that all

politics, indeed, is local when it comes

to city politics and things that are of

immediate concern to citizens.

Picking up the refuse and making sure

that the street lights stay on, and

repairing sidewalks and making sure

that police and the fire service

respond appropriately, and struggling

with the budget to provide those basic

services are a part of our charge.

Part of my responsibility, too, as

the mayor of the second largest city in

the State of Washington and the city

with the largest container port, is to

maintain a good working relationship

with our congressional delegation.

Now, it turns out they all happen to be

Democrats, which is of the other party,

but, they are all very talented. 

It’s interesting that one member of

Congress happens to be a constituent

of mine, but I’m not a constituent of

his because I live in a different congressional district. But I have a good

working relationship with our two

members of Congress as well as our

two U.S. senators. 

So we have to maintain the relationships at the national level and the

state level. Mayors are also advocates

of city interests at the state capital,

and local government is dependent, to

a large degree, on decisions that are

made in [Washington, D.C.] as well.

What are the important

issues for the local constituencies that you serve?

MAYOR BAARSMA: We are

strongly working toward a balanced

and vibrant economy in the city of

Tacoma with job creation and working

closely with the port. So economic

development is important.

Now, given that we’re a port city,

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

HTTP://WWW.USEMBASSY.DE/USA 

“We’re about doing our

business which takes care of

our various communities,

and we work with the federal

government where we need

to in the overlapping partnerships. But they pretty much

let us run the cities, and we

let the president run the

country.”

-- Mayor David Miller

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.

Two Mayor’s Perspectives

on Local 2004 Election

Issues

(continued from page 1)
obviously security is of paramount

concern, so there is that relationship

between economic development and

the growth of the port and the terrorist

threat.

The second issue in our strategic

plan is to provide a safe, secure and

livable environment within our neighborhoods and to make sure that the

infrastructure of our city is provided

for.

And our third goal is the goal of

government by results. We're going to

have to begin to do things smarter and

be more effective and more efficient

in terms of service delivery. 

MAYOR MILLER: Terrorism and the

strikes against the United States

showed us that it can happen here and

that they could bring their atrocities to

our nation, and therefore it made

Tacoma and Elkhart and other communities potential targets.

So we’ve had to kind of assess the

risk and take additional measures just

to try to take us off the terrorists’ radar

screen, or at least make sure that if

they attempt to do something they

can't succeed. And we’re a major thoroughfare through rail and truck traffic

and a distribution point, so we have to

watch those things, too.

But the best benefit that

Washington can give to communities

like ours is to be sure that the national

security is intact and that their economic conditions are as strong as

possible so that our businesses can

survive and thrive in our communities.

Has the relationship between

the federal government and

local government changed

after the September 11, 2001

terrorist attacks?

MAYOR MILLER: Our relationship

and the city’s relationship with

Washington have not changed as a

result of the terrorists. It is harder to

travel now, but that's nationwide, global even. But [Washington D.C.] is not

neglecting us or ignoring us. They’re

focusing their attention where it rightly needs to be focused, on ensuring the

safety and tranquility of the United

States in general.

We’re about doing our business

which takes care of our various communities, and we work with the

federal government where we need to

in the overlapping partnerships. But

they pretty much let us run the cities,

and we let the president run the country.

MAYOR BAARSMA: I am concerned about this particular issue.

We've recently done an inventory in

the city of Tacoma, as to the basic

needs, in terms of our infrastructure.

We have about $800 million in needs.

Now this includes bridges, roads, sidewalks, lights, and so on. And a

portion of what we have been able to

accomplish in the past has been

through federal assistance in the infrastructure, building a stronger country.

We’re also concerned about other

funding sources that are important in

terms of social and human services.

We have gone through a period of

what’s called evolution, in which the

responsibilities of helping those families that have economic hardship have

fallen to state and local governments. 

So we do have a concern. My

feeling is that if our infrastructure

crumbles and we can’t rebuild our

bridges and maintain our roads, and so

on, that it’s going to have a long-term

economic effect. I share the concerns

of Mayor Miller about terrorism and

addressing the issues. Since 9/11,

everything has changed, but at the

same time, we can’t neglect or forget

the basic infrastructure of our own

country. 

The challenge comes from the fact

that that there are declining resources.

Our ability to receive certain federal

appropriations has decreased. I come

to Washington asking for assistance,

like probably most other mayors and

community leaders do. We’ve been

fortunate to receive some, but it’s a

matter of making due with what we

have and still moving our cities forward.

So it just makes more challenges

for us in local leadership, to figure out

how to replace our streets when there

is less federal money, and replace our

sewers when there is less assistance to

do those things. I’m confident,

though, in the spirit of America that

we'll be able to find a way to do that

and still continue to make Tacoma and

Elkhart, and all of the other cities livable for the future. ■

4 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.

ELECTION FOCUS 2004
ELECTION FOCUS 2004

Campaign★★Highlight

HTTP://WWW.USEMBASSY.DE/USA 

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.

Update: Illinois State

Senator Barack Obama, a

former civil rights lawyer,

won the March 16 primary

in that state.

Update: Pennsylvania

Senator Arlen Specter

secured the Republican

nomination in that state on

April 27.

Congressional Quarterly

Weekly Report. Copyright

(c) 2004 by Congressional

Quarterly Inc. Reproduces

with permission of

Congressional Quarterly

Inc. via Copyright Clearance

Center. May not be 

translated.
ELECTION FOCUS 2004

6 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.