ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The following op-ed comes courtesy of Wynnie-Fred Victor Hinds, an independent candidate for Essex County Commissioner At-Large. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.
Matthew McConaughey's YouTube video urging voters to consider voting Independent has Democrats rattled. They're worried about spoilers, worried about timing. And at the national level, their concern is legitimate.
A lot is on the line. Most Americans do not want a Republican-controlled Congress – and for good reason. We've watched ICE brutalize immigrants and citizens with no accountability. The economy is struggling. Food prices are high. Unemployment is rising. We're at war with Iran. We invaded Venezuela. Corruption has become so normalized that ethical behavior is the exception, not the rule. Republicans in Congress have functioned as the President's lapdogs, unwilling to push back no matter the cost. We are dangerously close to a point of no return-and the middle and working class will pay for it most.
So at the federal level, I agree with the Dems: in a tight race, this is not the time to risk letting Republicans reclaim Congress. McConaughey, who seems to lean right regardless of what he says on camera, has motives he isn't fully disclosing. Voting Independent in a close congressional or Senate race could hand power to the very people doing the damage.
But McConaughey said something else I believe wholeheartedly: an Independent vote is NOT a wasted vote. And at the local level, he's absolutely right.
Essex County residents deserve committed representatives. We deserve transparency. We deserve to be heard before decisions are made, not informed after the fact. We deserve accountability.
This is why I'm running. An Independent vote at the local level is not only reasonable – it is the most rational choice you can make.
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