So last week was the most viewed post I’ve ever had by a large margin. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it to be popular, but three times as many hits? Thank you guys so much, and I hope you all stick around!
One of the comments I really wasn’t expecting to get, mostly from personal messages through Facebook or email, is the comments on how they didn’t know they could keep track of their Senator. I actually got asked in person quite a bit how I found out how to do all of that, and was told they had really learned something. So I really want to put that in its own post, just to make it easier for all of you when election season rolls around again.
Consider this my first Actively Nerdy How-To.
So how do you keep tabs on your Federal Legislator? First, make sure you know which one is yours. There are plenty of places online that can help you figure out which Senator or Representative is yours based on your ZIP code that are anonymous and free. I recommend OpenCongress.org.
With that, you can track down your representative's voting history through roll call votes. Because it can be a bit difficult to navigate the site directly for the US Senate or House, I recommend GovTrack.us. There you can track individual bills or the voting records of your particular representative. I highly recommend it for keeping tabs on exactly what your congressional representatives are doing. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members
After that, it’s up to your own discretion. Do you feel like your Representative is actually representing you? If so, by all means keep voting for them. But if not, then when it becomes election season it’s time to do some serious research into the other candidates. What are their voting records? If they’re from state or local government, how they voted on issues is a matter of public record.
There is also the factor of campaign contributions. Now that can be a lot harder to find, but https://www.opensecrets.org/ makes it a lot easier. You can even search for people running for office to see who has contributed to their campaign, and there are profiles on who contributes. Just make sure you’re well informed.
There is also the factor of campaign contributions. Now that can be a lot harder to find, but https://www.opensecrets.org/ makes it a lot easier. You can even search for people running for office to see who has contributed to their campaign, and there are profiles on who contributes. Just make sure you’re well informed.
Eventually I will expand this for the state level, and I’m pretty sure by then you’ll all be able to figure out the local level. This week is a short one, but that’s just because I’m setting a plan in motion!
Expect a special Saturday post this week, and until then keep on being Actively Nerdy!
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