BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Two years out from the January 6 Capitol attack voters are adjusting to new laws and representatives following the first election since the insurrection.
“I tell my students, you can tweet the president, if you want to, and you'll probably get a response,” said Taft College Adjunct Political Science Professor Ian Anderson.
He says January 6 and the televised investigation into the events surrounding that day have prompted more people to post their viewpoints online and engage with elected officials.
“Social media has brought a lot of people that were probably on the sidelines more into the political arena,” Anderson said. “This impacted and empowered a lot of individuals.”
The violence seen two years ago has continued to impact how conservative candidates campaigned in the first election since the insurrection.
“When we see individuals campaigning, speaking, they are kind of addressing where they land in this,” Anderson said. “I have seen a lot of focus on, ‘Hey, do you accept the outcome of the election?’ And that is really important.”
When it comes to Democrats, Kern County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Christian Romo tells 23ABC the party saw a number of longtime Republicans reject the actions and individuals that spurred the violence.
“We saw many big hitters, Bill Thomas, a couple others here locally that said, ‘You know, this is not the Republican Party that (we) they remember that (we) they registered to vote for,'" said Romo.
He says some voters even changed parties.
“We did get a lot of Republicans that said, ‘This is enough. This is not my party. I'm going on joining the Democratic Party,’” Romo said.
Romo added that there was also an increase in political activism from local Democrats to defend and protect election processes that came under attack two years ago.
“We had a huge influx of volunteers of campaign workers volunteer, you know, poll workers, people who want to make sure that democracy continues,” Romo said.
When it comes to local election security, Anderson also says January 6 prompted more concerns over the process, which he believes isn’t a bad thing.
“With this recount that's happening in Senate District 16, both candidates are asking for it. So I do think in general, though, the use of the recount has probably gone up, especially since the most recent elections,” Anderson said. “But again, is that a negative thing? Probably not. Because that is part of our system. And so, it's better that we're exercising these rights versus what happened on January 6th, where it this is the proper process.”
Both Romo and Anderson stressed the importance of voters continuing to take an active role in our democracy.
We reached out to local officials with the Republican Party in Kern County about how they feel January 6 changed the political landscape in Kern, but did not hear back.
