So, you cast your ballot, collected your “I voted” sticker, and stayed up all night refreshing an election tracker on Nov. 3. Election season is officially over (minus a few races that have yet to be called as of Nov. 10). So… now what?
The 2026 midterm election cycle marked a series of monumental firsts, with representatives across different levels of government from diverse, often underrepresented backgrounds winning elections for the first time in American history. It also sparked conversations about what the future holds for the nation now that a different political party is in the majority in Congress.
But while this year’s Election Day has come and gone, civic engagement remains critical. Voting is just one form of participating in a democracy — an important one, but not the only one.
Whether you spent the weeks leading up to Nov. 3 volunteering for a campaign, doing your due diligence with candidate research, or simply getting yourself and your community to the polls, it’s easy to feel like the work can take a break as the milestones (and memes) keep coming out. But now is not the time to stop.
The good news is that the work doesn’t have to be all-consuming. You don’t have to drop everything and sign onto a congressional team (though you could if you wanted to!) or glue yourself to the news. From supporting local happenings to simply changing how you stay informed, there are plenty of ways to make your voice count between elections.
Here’s how to keep the momentum going long after that 24-hour IG Story post with your “I voted” selfie gets archived.
- Keep up with the news — and not just on social media
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If you found out about Kansas flipping for the first time in almost a hundred years via a TikTok, you’re not alone. Over half of the American adult population reports receiving their news from social media on at least some occasions, according to Pew Research Center. And while there are some benefits to having a tool that can spread valuable information across a wide audience quickly, it often comes at the expense of details and nuance.
A brief Instagram caption or a 280-character post on X simply can’t capture the same volume — or accuracy — of information that fully researched and fact-checked news reports can. And when it comes to any form of political engagement, small or large, fact-based information is the foundation. It’s difficult to vote in your best interests, educate others, and combat dangerous misinformation without it. So, now is a great time to go beyond headlines and cover slides on social media graphics and find news sources you can trust. Comb through articles about what’s happening not only on a global scale, but also in your own neighborhood. Read about the same event from publications that lean toward different ideologies to better understand how people might see the same event through lenses that don’t match your own. And if you can find the time, consider picking up books that dive deeper into the context behind different issues facing the country, because rarely are they just tied to one recent event.
- Stay connected to your elected officials
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Getting an elected official into office is a necessary step, but it’s also just the first one. Once they’re there, you’ll need to keep up with what they are — or aren’t — doing. Are they fulfilling promises they made while campaigning? Are they out in their community, hearing from their constituents? Is what they’re doing representative of what you need from them? At the end of the day, an elected official’s primary obligation is their community. To fulfill that responsibility, they need feedback — and sometimes, accountability from the people they represent.
Save your officials’ office phone numbers and emails, and reach out to them with questions and comments when they come up. Follow their social media accounts and newsletters. Keep up with press releases to know what actions they’re taking and track how they’re voting on issues that matter to you. And, if you’re in the market for a new job and there’s a representative whose values align with yours, consider joining their office. Newly elected representatives may be building out their teams right now, and picking up a role on one of them could be a great way to deepen your understanding of local issues and put you in a position to directly address them.
- Attend local meetings
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One of the best things you can start doing as soon as today is attending your town council meetings. Decisions about matters like your town’s property tax rate, funding for community resources, approvals for new housing and facilities to be built, and even making your city more walkable are all matters that get decided at this level. But without community members in the room to weigh in, those decisions can come down to the information presented solely by the people proposing them in the first place. Having more viewpoints in the room can ensure these decisions are made in a way that is better representative of the various needs in the community.
- Don’t neglect local elections
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While the midterms and presidential elections get a lot of attention (for good reason), there are more elections than you might expect. Depending on where you are, you might have an election for your state officials, including your governor, your local officials, and even judges for nearby courts in the years or months between the big, splashy elections. These are officials who play a direct role in your day-to-day life, so it’s important not to miss out on a chance to show out for the ones who best represent you. Not to mention, campaigning for primaries — the elections used to determine who will be on your ballot during major elections — starts well before major elections. Primaries are a great way to get to know who could be on your ballot and take an additional step of shaping who you could be backing in November.
- Get involved with advocacy organizations
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Plenty of organizations exist to advocate for a variety of special interests on every scale, from local to global. If there’s a cause that is particularly important to you, consider signing on to help a group that’s continuously doing the work to support it. Involvement can look different, depending on what your bandwidth is. Maybe you’re signing petitions to showcase how many people support the work a group does. Maybe you’re donating funds to help keep the lights on, or other material resources for immediate emergency relief. Maybe you’re able to show up to meetings and demonstrations and provide the physical presence needed for them to be heard. Maybe you’re even running to lead an organization. However you can contribute, working together will make a greater impact than working alone.
- Contribute to community resources
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While donating to a local mutual aid group, library, or community pantry might not feel political on the surface, access to resources that fulfill basic needs is a politicized issue. Giving what you can to your community helps your neighbors keep going through difficult times and builds connections that can continue to a stronger collective power.
