With the election already underway in many states, many Republican voters are asking themselves the same question they did in 2016, which boils down to: “How can I put a stamp of approval I find so personally abhorrent?” It’s a legitimate question, one that began a movement of former Republicans pushing hard for voters to not only reject Trump, but all Republicans down-ballot as well. However, if conservative or even liberal policies have meaning, voting for any Democrat in 2020 is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

The year 2020 threw the United States another curveball with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her vacant seat on the Supreme Court is an inverse of the situation that occurred four years ago, when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away during an election year. This time, however, the Republicans hold the presidency in addition to the Senate.

Since the Democrats took hold of the New York State Senate in the beginning of 2019, New York has been a one-party state. Between the radical legislation, the malicious prosecution, and the mishandling of the executive, it’s become clear that New York Democrats need some check on their power. New Yorkers have the opportunity to right the ship by voting Republicans back into Albany.

For the last five years, the political left has declared a war on law enforcement in the United States. Since the death of George Floyd at the end of May, this war has been open on the streets, with many casualties. This past weekend, two more police officers were shot at point-blank range in California. Before going to the polls in November, law abiding citizens around the country must decide who they stand with: the cops or the criminals.

We are in the days of transition between the Yamim Nora’im and Z’man Simchaseinu, the joyous holy days of Sukkos, Sh’mini Atzeres, and Simchas Torah. The words in our davening during the Yamim Nora’im, which just ended, “who will live, who will die,” resonated more this year than in the past. 5780 was a year in which there was death by the sword (the fatal stabbing of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey during Chanukah and other anti-Semitic attacks), asphyxiation (the murder of George Floyd, which brought longstanding racial tensions to the surface and led to rioting), fire (wildfires on the West Coast), water (hurricanes), and (most notably) plague (the COVID-19 pandemic).

With less than two months until Election Day, the race between President Trump and former Vice President Biden is heating up. So much attention will be focused on the national contest that it’s easy, especially in deep blue New York, to forget that local races are far more important in terms of representation. This is why Republican Tom Zmich is challenging Democratic incumbent Grace Meng for NY Congressional District 6.