This story was originally published by KVOE.

The League of Women Voters’ Emporia branch will be busy the next few months. Why, you might ask? It’s tracking votes for lawmakers representing Lyon County for the second straight year.

This story was originally published on Chapelboro.com.

While much of the focus in Washington D.C. on Friday was more on selecting a new Speaker of the House, the day also marked a solemn anniversary for many. Lawmakers held a moment of silence outside the Capitol to remember the insurrection event on January 6, 2021 and to thank the first responders who were on-scene to respond to the mob of Donald Trump supporters.

Similar recognitions were held across North Carolina, including one organized by the local League of Women Voters in Chapel Hill Friday night.

The Post & Courier

Many of the best and brightest — people who may actually have good ideas that could make the state better — wouldn’t run for office at any price for precisely the reason they’d be so good at it.

“People have asked me why I don’t run,” says Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters. “It would drive me crazy to have people stop me in the grocery store, or at a restaurant.” That’s saying something, seeing as how one of the League’s goals is to get more people involved in the political process. But she’s right. Teague spends most of the session at the Statehouse, which means she gets to see all this regularly. She can confirm that although the divisive politics of the day has driven some people to run for office … it has driven more to run for the exits.

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “If progress continues at the rate of change since 1975, Arkansas and Georgia will be the first Southern states to have gender parity in their state legislature (both in 2066). Two Southern states— South Carolina and West Virginia—will have to wait over 200 years for parity." These and other indices should inform our League 2023 planning.