Lessons in Partisanship: From Local Office to Capitol Hallways
Dina I -
The Capitol may tower over the 500-square-foot Legislative District office where I started, but the two feel surprisingly alike.
While the work itself has changed, the chaos and the partisanship connect them in ways I didn’t expect. No matter the level of government, partisanship doesn’t just exist; it defines the environment.
At the local level, I saw partisanship woven into everything from organizing town halls to drafting newsletters. Even the smallest decisions sometimes carried political undercurrents. Now, walking the halls of the state Capitol, I recognize the same patterns, but amplified. Caucus meetings feel like the room to develop party strategy. Conversations often start with policy but quickly shift into party alignment. Partisanship shapes both the tone and the tempo of the work.
Now, back to my previous and current internship comparison. Of course, the day-to-day responsibilities are different. In the LD office, my work was about connecting directly with constituents, helping on the ground where it mattered most. At the Capitol, the work stretches farther. Yet despite these differences, the environment feels familiar because the underlying political dynamics, the allegiances, and the strategies haven’t changed. And maybe they shouldn’t change because that’s what makes politics, politics.
Learning how to operate in that reality has been one of the most valuable lessons from my journey so far. During my internship, I learned that success often came from understanding when to stand firm and when to build unlikely bridges. That lesson has only grown more critical at the state level, where every conversation is an opportunity to either deepen division or find a little bit of common ground.
The relationships I started building during my internship have helped me navigate this landscape. I’ve met with leaders who I continue to encounter in all facets of political events, from town halls to campaign fundraisers. For instance, Attorney General Kris Mayes and U.S. Congressman Greg Stanton. Their ability to stay grounded while navigating intense partisanship has been a model for me. And today, I am so grateful to work alongside a State House Representative, Lorena Austin, whom I first met at a Model United Nations conference.
If there’s one thing my experiences have made clear, it’s that partisanship is not something that magically disappears at higher levels of government. It’s baked into the system at every stage. But so is the opportunity to grow beyond it by listening more carefully, and recognizing that party lines don’t have to steer the narrative (trust me, I know that’s much easier said, then done).
In my upcoming posts I will continue to explore partisanship and soon make the shift to bipartisanship, stay tuned!
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