Because right wingers lack subtly and nuance. They don't understand how to talk about something that they don't agree with and lack the mental flexibility to entertain an idea without agreeing to it.

Right wingers hate everything that makes people happy except hurting others. They love to hurt others. So they have taken to attacking people where they can, like schools and at the hospital. Places that people have to use are the places authoritarians are attacking with ideology to force their future on children who can't make their own choices.

I understand the sentiment, but the reason is that most voters don’t have the bandwidth to even really learn about their federal representatives, much less their local politicians. Having a letter next to your name is probably the least amount of relevant information you can convey. It’s basically one bit in a two party system.

It takes a lot of time and effort to be an informed voter. When ballots arrive, I can spend hours on sites researching the legislation and candidates, and even then most of what you’ll find are press release types of statements with generic phrasing. You end up learning to hear dog whistles and using those, unless the candidate/initiative is big enough that it gets attention in the local press.

At this point, if someone is running as a Republican, I am going to assume that they’re a supporter of the LGBT-phobic, misogynistic agenda embraced by the national party. It is the party of Trump now, and they take a firm stand against everything I agree with. I appreciate the signal, even if it is a single bit of information, just in case I can’t find anything on the candidate.

Been voting democrat for a while now in Texas. I wrote a letter to my congressman about speakership. He was republican, so the local gop now thinks I’m republican. So they sent me packets to vote for the republican candidate for school board. I voted the opposite.

Honestly, the question comes down to indoctrination. Republicans play very long games. They see themselves as losing now, but if they can control the education system and mediate what the next crops of voters know and think, then they can make sure that they start winning again. They have been dismantling it for decades, but it was quiet, and slow, and they made sure to avoid making waves so their agenda didn't get noticed. The current barrel of monkeys in the post-Trump world are trying to be noisy and forceful and are getting caught. Take a long look through the history of state and district decisions regarding coursework and guidelines for educators and you will see pretty quickly who had political motivations and who was trying to make sure the population stayed dumb, docile, and pliant.

In WA state they are nonpartisan, but not really. All that means is, as a voter, you have to read between the lines of everything they say, and as a supporter you spend an inordinate amount of time finding and providing proof of the views of these people to other voters. At this point I would really appreciate a D or R (or L, I, whatever) next to their names.