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On November’s ballot, there will be three candidates for outgoing State Sen. Ed McBroom’s seat in the 38th District. Dave Prestin, Kelly Van Ginhoven and former State Rep. Sara Cambensey. Sara is running as an independent.
I’ve seen many people of both parties not react well to that, even to the point of longtime friendships being tested over support for her. I’ve seen accusations flying wild and insults online even from people who endorsed her in 2016. For this reason, I feel compelled to re-frame the conversation around her independent run.
We hear things like "Fake Democrat" or "Secret Republican" thrown around. This is because for years we’ve had American politics presented to us as a do or die struggle between two and only two warring parties. This is far from the truth. I’m old enough to remember the 1992 election when three major candidates, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot, all shared the same debate stage all the way to November. We survived as a nation and thrived.
From Libertarian to Democratic Socialist and a dozen more in between, many political parties exist in America. People and their political positions don’t always fit neatly into the two boxes that MS Now and Fox News tell us are all that exists. Sara isn’t a "one box" politician. She is adaptable to the needs of her community and has historically sided with constituents over party directives.
In other words, actual representation of the will of the voter.
That’s scary to the two political powerhouses who depend on doing the will of their largest donors over doing what We the People ask of them. But it shouldn’t be to us. I am of the opinion that politicians like Sara should be the rule not the exception. I won’t tell you who to vote for, or throw shade at any candidates. But I will answer the question: Is Sara Cambensy a Republican or a Democrat?
Neither. Sara is a Yooper. One of us. Running as one of us. And if we turn on each other after years of trust, we don’t have a society that can make it to election day.