Autumn in New York during a small-town election season is a lot like living in a classic Norman Rockwell painting — it is just that "All American."  Under crisp blue skies, there are more lawn signs than I've seen in years, interspersed with the flags that continue to wave over the homes of many who never removed their Trump banners.  There is real excitement in the air as voters are attending the forums and debates, where they can question the candidates before they cast their ballots.

Although it is an off-year and nobody is running for governor or federal office, the county and town races are quite contentious, with candidates having their feet held to the fire about CRT, transgenderism, and COVID mandates.  It is refreshing to have this level of civic involvement after so many years of the apathy that developed from what seemed like universal screen addiction.

The main reasons why the local elections are so hot this year are mainly the repercussions from the CCP Flu scamdemic that has nearly destroyed what was once the Empire State.

Because of the lockdowns, parents have had their eyes opened about what is going on in their kids' classrooms.  They got to see firsthand just how their hard earned tax dollars were being spent, and it wasn't pretty.  When the schools were closed to in-person "learning," parents, especially the moms, discovered the depravity that had infected every aspect of their kids' curriculum from kindergarten to high school.

All of the Marxist indoctrination that parents were hearing about on Tucker Carlson and in other media was happening right in their hometown.  With the online Zoom classes, they could see with their own eyes how their kids were being taught with curricula and library books that promoted everything from CRT to transgenderism and even pedophilia.

Thanks to social media, hundreds of parent groups sprang up overnight: Parents for Liberty, Parents against CRT, Save our Schools, Say No to Mandates, and Unmask NY, to name but a few.  Information was shared; meetings and demonstrations were scheduled; and candidates were nominated to run for office, whether school board or town council.  Regardless of party affiliation, candidates had to be willing to take a strong stand against CRT and the COVID mandates, or they didn't have a chance.

Speaking of mandates, you have to realize that, because New York is one of the most hard-left blue states in the USA, we are still living under the rules of the COVID dictatorship that were imposed on us back in March 2020.  The tyranny is unbelievable unless you like living in a Commie gulag like New York, and there is no sign that it will be ending any time soon.

Nowhere are these mandates more stringent than in our schools, where everyone from adults to very young children and teens is still being forced to wear the suffocating muzzle masks while on district property.  This edict extends to everyone who attends meetings and other events held in the school buildings, regardless of exemption status.

In many places, there are armed sheriff's deputies, AKA "resource officers," who guard the door at board of education meetings to make sure that residents have their faces properly covered.  Having experienced this indignity firsthand, I can tell you that it has served to further outrage and energize the voters of my town.

It also doesn't help that if students are discovered to have been near someone who got the virus, they can be quarantined at the drop of a hat and not allowed back in school for weeks.  To say parents are fed up with these disruptions is a gross understatement.

One other thing that is a priority for New York voters is the block of amendments to our state constitution that the Democrats pushed through the state Legislature.  If these amendments are not voted down, we will see our property rights eroded, more Green New Deal policies, and the permanent implementation of practices such as "no excuse" absentee ballots that will destroy what's left of our election integrity.

After seeing what happened last year, we know that our best chance of influencing our government is at the grassroots level.  It has never been truer that all politics is local, as we are finding out in every small town across the country.  Win or lose, the parents and taxpayers have been awakened.  They are not woke; they are furious, and they are not backing down, this year or in the foreseeable future.

Irene Heron is a pseudonym.

Image: Protesting CRT.  YouTube screen grab.