BDN speaks with Glover for opinion piece on Bangor City Council race
A Bangor Daily News editorial about the Bangor City Council race quoted Rob Glover, an associate professor of political science at the University of Maine. In this year’s election, 11 residents are running for four seats on the nine-member council, the most candidates on the ballot in the 35 years of records. According to Glover, the 2016 elections reminded people that elections have consequences and could have led to the growing number of local candidates nationwide. “Since then, we’ve seen a redoubled commitment to political awareness but even more so political action — volunteering, canvassing, phone banking, voter registration efforts, and increasingly in those running for public office. So while politics is nasty, many view that as an invitation to engage rather than something that would dissuade,” he said. And traditional “gatekeepers” like party committees, party leadership or informal networks of elites no longer exercise the control they once had, making it easier to run for office, according to Glover.