It’s great to see a full slate of candidates seeking seats on the Douglas County Commission. This is an important body and having multiple candidates for each of the two open seats will encourage full discussion of issues facing the county and give voters a good choice at the ballot box.

Several other local races, including those for local seats in the Kansas Senate, also drew competition this year, but many – maybe too many – important offices still are being filled by default in uncontested races.

That’s true of five top elected officials in the county: sheriff, county clerk, county treasurer, register of deeds and district attorney. Incumbents in all of those offices are seeking re-election and the lack of competition can be taken as a sign that county residents are well satisfied with the job they are doing. That’s the good news.

The not-so-good news is that at the local, state and national level, incumbents continue to enjoy a huge advantage in our election system. A major reason there is strong competition for county commission seats is that the two men who currently hold those seats aren’t running for re-election. Two years ago, an incumbent candidate for the commission was elected without opposition.

More than a third of the Kansas House, 44 out of 125 members, will be elected without opposition this year unless an independent or minor party candidate files later. That includes two Lawrence legislators and one in Jefferson County. Although that total number fluctuates from election to election (45 House members were unopposed in 2004 and 36 in 2006) it is consistently high.

Overall, however, the election slate is strong and more competitive than usual. All three state incumbent senators whose districts include part of Douglas County have opposition this year. Strong challenges also appear to be on tap for congressional incumbents, including the a long-time senator from Kansas.

The current presidential campaign has energized many American voters, and perhaps encouraged more candidates to get involved in state and local races. That’s a good sign for our democracy.