Lawrence has had its share of local political coalitions over the years, often focusing their efforts on getting slates of candidates elected to the Lawrence City Commission.

News that the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, which was so active in the 2005 commission race, might not be involved in the 2007 campaign may spur some reflections among local voters about the role campaign coalitions play.

All candidates, whether they are running for school board or president of the United States, need supporters. Even candidates for the Lawrence City Commission would find it difficult, if not impossible, to run an election campaign without some kind of support organization. They need money to buy ads and yard signs and they need volunteers to prepare and distribute campaign materials. People who support individual campaigns with their time and money do both the candidates and the community a great service by getting involved.

Sometimes, however, when supporters form coalitions and endorse slates of candidates for city commission, they have had a divisive impact on local elections that has carried over to the business conducted by officeholders after the election. It has not been uncommon for commissioners elected with the endorsement of an identifiable group of supporters to continue to be linked to that group’s agenda during their terms. Whether or not it is accurate, their votes often are attributed to some loyalty to an interest group that was key to their election.

Progressive Lawrence certainly isn’t the only coalition that has overtly or covertly endorsed slates of candidates in local elections. Regardless of who is making the lists or what they stand for, such slates tend to divide the community and undermine the principle of nonpartisan local elections.

Over the years, for instance, many people have noted the consistent grouping of yard signs for certain candidates. Signs for the same grouping of two or three candidates almost always seem to flock together. It’s rare, but refreshing, to see a grouping of signs that seems to cross coalition lines.

Such a grouping seems to indicate that the resident has given some attention to the individual candidates in the race and the stands on certain issues, rather than judging them by their association with a coalition or slate.

Lawrence city commissioners are elected in nonpartisan elections to fill at-large seats that represent the community as a whole. Allowing voters to judge candidates on their individual merits seems more suited to that process than forcing candidates into rigid or divisive coalition agendas.