It certainly seems like the current “political season” just won’t end.

Now that we have entered another filing period, this one for the March 2020 primary, it’s easy to think these filing periods and elections have been with us for months on end — and in some ways they have.

Because of fraud rooted in Bladen County, the November 2018 congressional election was cast aside and voters had to endure another primary and special election that, in September, sent Republican Dan Bishop to Washington.

On the heels of that, voters were sent right into another decision-making process for the November municipal election, an epic battle that could have changed the course of local politics, specifically in Laurinburg. It didn’t, thankfully.

But less than a month since our registered voters made tough decisions on local politics, our political radars are heightened once again by a filing period that began Monday. This one is bigger. There are seats on our local school board and county commission that must be filled; plus we are now officially in the season of working toward filling state, congressional and presidential seats when all is said and done in November 2020.

As exhausting as it may seem, this remains an important process that needs to be taken seriously.

It would be nice to know that these decisions will be made by 70% or 80% or even 90% of local voters — and they really should be. Unfortunately, that will never be the case. Instead, far less than half, sometimes less than a third of registered voters will decide our political path.

But we urge all of those who cast their hats into the ring for political positions to do so with this in mind: Any politician must knowingly enter the election process working to capture the majority of votes, but rather than working only for that majority they must work for the benefit of all once elected.

That’s not an easy thing to do, and sometimes it’s just plain impossible. But a good politician has to put aside political party, friendships and personal agendas in order to make decisions that will have a positive affect on the big picture of those they serve as a whole.

The job of a politician is much like that of a journalist — if they are making everyone happy, they aren’t doing their job correctly. An elected official can’t be a fence-sitter. If they are, then they are ineffective and a waste.

We applaud all of those who have and will file to run for an elected position, and urge each of you to focus on making Laurinburg and Scotland County a better place to live, work and play.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A public office is not a job, it is an opportunity to do something for the public.” (Franklin Knight Lane)