After you find out what candidates are on your local ballot at vote411.org look up information on their political history voting information and positions.
An informed voter is the bastion of democracy.
i use ballotpedia a lot but i also recommend [congress.gov] because it is a record of the disposition of every bill, i don't know going how far back but pretty far: who sponsored it, where it is (committee, lost, voted on, passed, unpassed), who voted how on it, plus not only a summary but the complete text.
g