By voting for political candidates based solely on their stance on certain issues, many American voters are deprived of their choice during nearly every election.
Over the past years, single-issue voting has taken a turn as certain issues have come to the forefront of the political field.
Issues like LGBTQ+ rights, gun control and, most recently, abortion have become a platform on which to base an entire campaign.
The problem with this style of voting is that it greatly limits voter choice.
It dictates what candidate someone will vote for even if they agree with nothing else about their campaign.
Single-issue voting denies many people the opportunity to look at what a candidate’s policies on education, finances, and other ideals are, as they are focused on one topic like abortion or gun control.
The problem is that, political candidates feed into these issues by basing a huge part of their campaigns on hot topics.
When a candidate campaigns, they know that most of their policies don’t have to be as public and acceptable as long as they express their opinions on big-ticket items like abortion.
Nearly every campaign ad that is seen on television or other platforms for the upcoming midterms is about, or partially about, the candidate’s stance on abortion.
Both John Fetterman and Doug Mastriano’s official gubernatorial campaign websites feature their opinions on issues like these early and clearly.
John Fetterman’s website talks about his officiating of same-sex marriage in the first paragraph of his home page.
This isn’t to say that this is wrong. It certainly isn’t. It simply upsets and loses the support almost immediately of those who disagree with same-sex marriage.
In addition, the fifth bulletin on Doug Mastriano’s campaign website is a proposition to eliminate pediatric gender transition surgeries.
This also loses the support of people who support gender transitions very quickly, forcing potential voters to make a choice based solely on that issue.
Mastriano has also stated that he is strongly against abortion, and wants to outlaw it in Pennsylvania. Doing so would likely lose the potential of any votes from most pro-choice voters in this state.
Mastriano also stated in a 2018 interview that he believes same-sex marriage should be illegal and that same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt children.
These controversial stances will likely cause a lack of support from the LGBTQ+ community and others that support them.
However, Mastriano isn’t the only Pennsylvania candidate for office with controversial views on hot-button issues.
John Fetterman plans to put forth a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.
This is also a recent topic that has become somewhat controversial.
While it may not be as large of a priority to the majority of voters as abortion or gun control, it does create a divide between those who would be for the legalization of marijuana and those against it, even within his political party.
The legalization of marijuana has recently taken much of America by storm, as 26 states have fully legalized the use of it.
Fetterman’s stance on this issue has the potential to lose the vote of anti-drug, specifically anti-marijuana, voters.
The bottom line is that single-issue voting greatly diminishes the choice voters have to put the candidate that they want in office.
They simply have to vote for one candidate over the other to avoid compromising their beliefs.