For cycling, it doesn’t matter whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney is president

Check out the cycling/walking candidate survey that is happening right now. The deadline for candidates to respond is Wednesday.

We all know that Barack Obama is the president of the United States. And most of us know the name of the man he beat in the most recent presidential election. But do you know the names of your state senator and representative?

There’s a good chance you don’t.

Important people for cycling and walking in Delaware: (L-R) Delaware State Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, Delaware State Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives Pete Schwartzkopf, Delaware House of Representatives Minority Leader Dan Short

And yet, while Barack Obama is far more important when it comes to matters of war and peace, or social security and medicare, our Delaware state senators and representatives matter far more for when it comes to the transportation decisions  that will affect our daily lives for decades to come, and especially with regard to how walkable and bikeable our communities are.

Have you ever complained about how bicycle-unfriendly Delaware is (notwithstanding our recent leap up in the official rankings) and how unsympathetic state decision-makers are to cycling? Have you made those complaints without even knowing the names of the two people who are supposed to represent you, and your interests, in Dover?

To represent us well, our representatives have to hear from us. And here’s something that might be surprising to many people. Some cyclists think that, if their state legislators are not themselves cyclists, then they will not have any sympathy for cycling. But that’s not how politics works. To be effective, legislators have to be able to be empathetic with people who are different than they are. Though a politician may have never been the victim of a crime, to do her job she has to nonetheless be able to represent crime victims. Though she may have never served in the military, she still needs to be able to represent veterans. Though her closest exposure to agriculture may be her local supermarket, she should still be able to understand the concerns of farmers.

Important for some stuff. But not really important for walking and cycling in Delaware.

Our politicians hear from their constituents all the time about education; about public safety; about taxes; and about dozens of other issues. That’s how they know that something matters to their constituents. Have you contacted your state senator or state representative about walking or cycling? If not, you can’t expect that they will effectively represent you.

This week Bike Delaware, along with its campaign partners Sussex Outdoors and Delaware Greenways, is conducting a survey of all the folks running for state senator and state representative (who have an opponent in their race). We have conducted similar surveys in the last two elections (in 2010 and 2012). In those previous surveys, we heard back from about half of the candidates we surveyed. Can you help us get an even better response rate this election cycle? If the candidates running to represent you get an email or phone call from you (their registered-to-vote potential constituent!) asking if they have responded to the Bike Delaware / Sussex Outdoors / Delaware Greenways candidate survey, that communication from you will make it more likely that they will read, and respond to, the survey.

One way of finding out who is running to represent you is to just look around your neighborhood at the signs on the streets. If you see a lot of those signs, there is probably a contested election. Or you can email us with your home address and we’ll email you back letting you know if you are in a contested election and the contact information for the candidates. Or you can do this:

1) Lookup your senatorial district number and representative district number (enter your address, click “Find” and click on the map)

2) Find your senator and representative districts in this list to see if you are in contested race

If you do live in a district with a contested race, the next next few days are a golden opportunity to send an email or make a phone call to the candidates running to represent you. Tell them you support more walkable and bikeable communities!  Let the people running to represent you know that waking and cycling are important to you! And help make our democracy work!

If you’re having any trouble figuring out if you live in a district with a contested election or with finding contact information for candidates, just email Bike Delaware (at survey@bikede.org), tell us your home address and we’ll email you back and let you know.

  James Wilson is the executive director of Bike Delaware.

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