With the economy in the tank and bank-owned homes littering the landscape, you'd think that growth would be a non-issue in local elections around Sacramento.

Think again. All across the region – in Elk Grove, Galt, Loomis, Roseville, Rocklin and several outlying counties – candidates are vying for office based on their stands on development and open space.

Some are pro-growth. Some are slow-growth. Some are running for office based on narrow opposition to a particular project.

Does it matter? Very much so.

While it may take a decade for the housing market to boom again, the candidates elected today will be making decisions on zoning, city expansions and conversion from farmland to subdivisions.

Nothing will get built immediately. But the people elected tonight could determine the future shape and size of the region, and how much emphasis is placed on preserving open space and farmland.

The Elk Grove City Council race is one contest to watch tonight. Challengers Steve Detrick, Katherine Maestas and LaWanna Montgomery are running against incumbents Mike Leary, Sophia Scherman and Jim Cooper.

Depending on the outcome of these three races, Elk Grove could remain strongly pro-growth – pushing to expand the city by 10,536 acres down to the Cosumnes River flood plain – or it could slow down. Two of the challengers, Detrick and Maestas, are wary of the city's expansion plans and want the council to rethink this push.

In Placer County, a single supervisorial race could determine the county's development direction in future years. Incumbent Bruce Kranz, a staunch opponent of the Placer Legacy land preservation effort, is vying against Jennifer Montgomery, a small-business owner from Serene Lakes.

If Montgomery were to pull this one out, it would create an interesting dynamic in a county whose population has grown by 34 percent in the last eight years. Developers would no longer depend on 4-1 or 3-2 votes in favor of their projects, and Placer Legacy advocates would gain some new traction.

Several smaller races also are worth watching.

In Loomis, residents concerned about the expansion of neighboring Rocklin are supporting Gary Liss for the town council. Liss is campaigning on a platform of preventing Loomis from becoming "just another California suburb" and is seeking to unseat one of the two incumbents – Tom Millward and Rhonda Morillas.

Meanwhile, in Rocklin, the city council race has turned into a referendum on the council's approval of the disputed Clover Valley project. Three incumbents – Brett Storey, Peter Hill and George Magnuson – are running for re-election. They are being challenged by a pair of Clover Valley opponents and two other candidates.

Galt is the site of a slightly different split over growth. Several challengers for city council want this town of 23,000 to add more retail and generally be more pro-development, claiming it would help the city's finances.

In Sacramento, the mayoral race between Heather Fargo and Kevin Johnson has attracted more attention than the suburban contests. That's understandable. It's not every day you see a two-term mayor struggling to win re-election against a former NBA star making his first run for office.

Yet what happens tonight, in small towns and supervisor races around Sacramento, could have far more impact on the region's future than the outcome of the Fargo-K.J. fight.

After the polls close, watch for updates on these local races and others at the editorial board's blog The Swarm at www.sacbee.com/swarm.