How hard would it be to run for office?

[truhavoc]

I just getting ready to graduate as a politcal science and philosophy double major from Ohio State. I would like to possibly run for something like school board or something else locally I could get elected for with basically no name recognition and very little money. I do however live in a small suburb which may make it easier to get my name out. My overall goal is to oust Pat Tiberi from his seat in Congress, but I know I can't exactly start there. Anyone have any pointers?

[murielm99]

1. Get involved with your county Democrats first.

That is the best way to get to know people. If possible, work as an election judge. Be a voter registrar. Then, when you get to know people, run for something like precinct committeeman.

Get to know the local officials, and volunteer in their campaigns, too.

If you are in a small town, school boards can be pretty entrenched. They might not want you unless you are established in your town, and a property owner. I could be wrong, but that is the way it works in my small town.

If your county Democrats have picnics or dinners, go to them. (They will want money, though).

Try the county stuff first. And, good luck!

[emetzl]

2. can't really help, but

... I'm rooting for you!
Good Luck

[newyawker99]

14. Hi emetzl!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Gore1FL]

3. The biggest pain is fund rasing.

I'd start with the state house and tehn go from there.

[Curtis]

4. It's a lot harder than it looks

I ran for the State Assembly in California back in 1992 when I was 29. I was a nobody who had moved into the area (Chino, Pomona, Ontario) 2 years before I ran.

The two other Democrats were both long time residents. One guy, Bob Erwin, grew up there so he had spent over 50 years. The other guy, Larry Simcoe, lived there around 20 years or so.

Bob was well known because he ran, and almost won, the congressional seat two years prior to this race, and Larry was the Fire Chief for the entire Inland Empire (during the Rodney King riots to boot).

What I did was invest in one cable commercial that I ran about 50 times on channels like History, CNN, Discover, etc. A friend donated his time to shoot and edit the commercial. I only had to pay for parts and rental of the editing booth. It ended up being around $150 for the commercial and then I paid about $500 to run the ad.

I also made about 30 yard signs at home and put them, with permission, in very strategic places (get intersection data from the local road works people).

Then I went out and pounded the pavement and went door to door. You can get the entire voter roll for the area from the local Registrar. That way you only hit homes of registered voters and in the primary just registered Democrats. I am confident I received at least 85% of the votes from the people I met because it makes such a HUGE impact on people when you go to them and say "I want to work for you in Sacramento. What is it you want to see happen?" instead of just spewing campaign rhetoric. I even made it a point to carry registration forms so I could register new voters in the home or re-register Republicans.

I also attended some church functions and handed out home made issue cards. These people were so impressed that I had the guts to show up at a Catholic function and state clearly that I support the womens' right to choose, period. I even swayed some Republicans at these events (fair/carnival type events).

Be sure to participate in as many event/marches/community events you can. I don't mean to try to force your way into being center stage, but instead work the people who are running the program. Go to them and say, "Hi, I'm Curtis and I'm running for the Democratic nomination for the Assembly in this district. I am here to offer ANY help I can to make this go off without a hitch. I don't want to make a speech or anything but just help." You'll hear, "Uh, wow. It's nice to meet you. I wasn't aware you were going to be here or I would have made room for you in the program." "no, no, no. I don't want anything like that. I want to help YOU because I believe in what you are doing. Put me to work. How about I make sure there are enough seats in visible areas with safe paths through them? Or, I could just be sure to keep that table over there covered with drinks for everyone to just grab." "uh, sure. That'll work." The best part comes later when the people learn you are running but you just wanted to help and not pontificate from the stage like one or two other candidates. It works really ;)

The big thing I did was bug the hell out of the local press. Get to know the political reporter for your local rag and take him/her to lunch. The money and time spent will be worth it because you can become his/her friend. David Wert was the political reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in '92. I talked to him about 5 times a week. I would call to check on any rumors. I would call to tell him about endorsements, which I would string out to give me yet another and another reason to call him.

I also, put together two debates. I won them both and really impressed the crowd. I eventually had people who offered to help. I would then have them follow me around door to door and eventually sent them off on their own with a list.

Bottom line is I spent about $1750 total. My opponents spent: Bob spent $48,000 and Larry spent $59,000. The ending vote was 39% - 38.5% - 22.5%. Larry won and went on to get crushed by the Republican, Bob came in second and left the area in disgrace due to one of the debates and resulting news stories, I came in third out of no where.

The cool thing is Ruben Ayala, BELOVED State Senator from the area, took me under his wing. I was made co-Chair of the Democratic Party of San Bernardino County and hand picked to be the Democrat with all the backing to run in the next race in 1996. I would have won easily as did the Dem who ran in my place. I couldn't do it because I got ill and have been very disabled since. I keep getting the itch to get back into it, but then I get hammered by my illness and that thought is knocked right out of my head.

But, hey. That's the way I did it and it worked really well. More than likely I would seriously be in line to run against Ahnold in 2006 :(

[Hekate]

7. Welcome to DU, Curtis!

:hi: :hi:
That is a very cool story -- talk about great political advice and mentoring for free! You almost had me ready to jump out of my chair and start making posters: Hekate for something-or-other.

With a sad ending that I hope will eventually change for you, because you obviously have so much to offer, and we need that.

I'm glad you're bringing your gifts here to DU. Welcome again, from the night shift.

Hekate

[newyawker99]

15. Hi Curtis!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[JCMach1]

5. It is VERY ROUGH... I ran in 2002

Schedule, travel, fundraising, appearances, and trying to keep a semblance of ordinary life are one of the most difficult things you can do as an activist.

However, it was also fun. You get to meet MANY interesting people... including folks like Al Gore, John Edwards, Bob Graham, Bill Nelson... etc.

[Rebellious Republican]

8. JC you made that little rat bastard republican sweat, not bad for

a first time run! You got into it with no name, no money, no support. Now you have established your name, you know where to get the money and you have a base and important contacts in the party for your second run. There is going to be a second run right? Florida needs more fighters for our cause, I know I am not in your district, but I am hoping to vote for you some day! Ya know, like when you eventually get to a position that all of us in Florida can vote in! wink, wink, nod, nod!
:toast:

[SoCalDem]

6. My next door neighbor was mayor

She was a mom with 4 kids, and a high school education..

You can do it..

Start with city council or school board..

volunteer for EVERYTHING you can.. Get chummy with someone at your local newspaper..

Start a fund raiser for something, and offer your new newspaper friend an "exclusive"..Get a radio station interested.. Offer to do an interview..

Make news.. get your name in the paper.. with a picture if possible

You could : raise money for care packages from the town to soldiers..get local stores involved (they could donate stuff and put your placards in the window..your name as contact persoon would be on them)You can make the signs on your computer very easily..

If you plan an event, make it fun and small.. Ice cream socials are good.. or a "play day" for families.. soccer, softball,volleyball.. all things that you might be able to get help with, from parks & rec.

Offer to teach seminars at the library.. They often have unused rooms that you can appropriate:)

Join the Rotary or some local organizations..

At first you must refrain from controversy, and as people start to recognize your name and you have a "record" you can afford to be more edgy:)

Want a campaign manager??

You are wise to start small..

added on edit:.. Look for races that are uncontested .. There are some openiings in city government that go unfilled because no one even runs for them.. It might be something that you know nothing about, but you could learn :)..That would get you in the door :)

[truhavoc]

9. Thank you all for the incredible advice!!

Thank you everyone, you gave me ideas of what I should be doing next. There are some uncontested races that I might be able to win in my fairly liberal suburb if there is a democratic name on the ballot. I will keep everyone posted, Ohio needs more democrats.

[carrowsboy1]

10. I'd love to run for office...

but I basically live paycheck to paycheck and couldn't imagien giving up my steady job.

Unfortunately my father doesn't have an oil business to give me.

[mdmc]

11. RUN SOMEONES CAMPAIGN!

Good God Man! Run a local race, while securing a Democratic committee seat.

[cmayer]

12. You are on your way

There has been some good advice already.

It is not hard to run. It can be hard to win.

You mention that you live in a fairly liberal suburb. That's a good start. Demographics can be destiny.

Look at the election results for your CD over the past twenty years. I'm sure it's changed by way of redistricting, so take a close look at the most recent election. If there is no good Congressional comparison, look at how other Democrats have done for other offices.

Also(this is very important), you don't necessarily have to live in the district you grew up in. You are just graduating; you can live anywhere you want to. If you wanted to move out here to Virginia you could have a Congressional nomination this year. (Of course, you wouldn't win.)

My point is, don't necessarily limit your view to just one locality. Take a look at them all before you decide.

You are starting at the right place. School board can be tough, but there are other offices. You might want to leave school board to someone with kids.

Also, consider leading a community action cause. As well as doing the right thing, it can get you good press in a non-partisan format, provide you with contacts and people who later can be a core of volunteers and prove that you care about people and your community.

The very best of luck. I hope I can follow your progress over the years.

[newyawker99]

16. Hi cmayer!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Killarney]

13. Join your DTC

Find out when and where your Democratic Town Committee meets and join them. You get to meet the powerful democrats in town.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

17. I ran last fall for Township Clerk

Here's my experience.

Become a Precinct Executive with your County Democratic Party. Depending on where you live in Ohio, you may not have a PE in your precinct. If your precinct already has one, most county organizations allow you to be the PE in a precinct other than where you live. But be sure to let your "home" PE know that you're available and willing to help out in the precinct where you live.

Work for a campaign. If you're planning to run for school board first, best to work on a non-partisan campaign (school issues, mental health levy, or the like). That way you meet both Republicans and Democrats who will vote for you -- I know a lot of die-hard Republicans who voted for me in the 2003 election even though I'm a known liberal agitator.

Build a Rolodex. Start collecting names and phones numbers and e-mail addresses of like-minded people in your jurisdiction, and then keep in touch with them on a regular basis. These folks will become your core supporters on your campaign.

When you decide to run:
Your real core supporters are your family. If they don't support what you're doing then you have virtually no hope or winning or keeping your family together -- now I'll assume that you're young enough that you're still single and don't have kids. But don't count out your parents and siblings as an important source of support (moral, financial, and every otherwise).

After that, go back to those candidates that you supported supported and tell them that you're running for office. About a quarter of my campaign funds came from elected officials and former candidates who I've helped in recent years. Then you go to that Rolodex of yours and contact your circle of political friends -- about another quarter of my campaign funds came from them.

After that, it's a whole bunch of shoe leather. Get the voting list from your County Board of Elections and then knock on the door of every Democratic and Independent voter in your jurisdiction. Give them the compelling reason why they should vote for you in the upcoming election.

It's hard work, but it's a lot of fun.