[Editor's note: Throughout his life, Rex Babin championed those who focused on state and local issues in editorial cartoons, a field that he and other cartoonists felt was regularly overlooked by journalism contests. The "Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning" was launched in 2017 to celebrate those working in this niche. To that end, we will be showcasing each cartoonist who entered the contest this year, one or two each day, leading up to the announcement of the winner on Saturday, Sept. 22, during the AAEC Convention in Sacramento, CA.]
Since 2016, Nathan Archer has worked for the Tallahassee Democrat. As Archer says, "There’s never a shortage of things to draw when you’re Tallahassee’s local editorial cartoonist. Being Florida’s capital, state politics are always on the menu." You can see more of his work at nathanarcher.tumblr.com.
R.W. Alley also began doing editorial cartoons in 2016. A children's book artist, Alley, provoked by the 2016 election to draw politically, has been contributing to the online publication, GoLocalProv. As Alley notes, "Rhode Island is essentially a city-state. Every issue is local."
