General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumshow does one run for congress?
This recent midterm and seeing how many new fresh faces ran and tried to make a difference has really inspired me. I was wondering if anyone has any guidance or tips- like how does one get involved in local politics and perhaps make a run for office?
Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)...if you tell me if you voted for HRC or Bernie in the 2016 primary.
Liberty Belle
(9,528 posts)unless you have a lot of connections and money, since Congressional campaigns in large districts are costly. I have worked on several Congressional campaigns.
Start by getting appointed to serve on a local commission in your city, for instance, and then run for the city council next election. Or a school board, fire water, water board of planning commission, depending on you background and interests.
Start going to local Democratic Club and progressive organizations meetings locally to make connections. You could run to be a delegate in your local party. Get to know key people for endorsements such as labor leaders and local officials.
Be circumspect in what you post on social media. Remember that anything can become a commercial used by the other side. Be honest and forthright in your views, and respectful of everyone who is a voter even when you disagree. They may come around in time.
Educate yourself on the issues. Nothing culls a candidate faster than being asked questions on a region's major issues and sounding clueless. Read your local media and if running for Congress, national media daily. Study your competitor's positions, too.
Check with your local registrar to find out filing deadlines, costs and signature requirements for any office you're considering running for. Some places allow you to pay less if you get more signatures. Avoid silly mistakes such as not paying for a ballot statement or missing the deadline to do so. Candidates without ballot statements almost never win.
Be prepared to spend a lot of time walking door to door and going to ever kind of meeting you can to meet people or speak. Go to public meetings of the board you want to run for, and start speaking in the public comments section of the agenda on issues of interest in your community.
Plan out a social media strategy. Be sure to get a good website with your bio, issues, some friendly photos, and a news section as well as contacts and how people can volunteer or donate. Get active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to connect with voters. I've seen local races won by candidates without much money who had a strong social media presence. Also budget for a door hanger piece that's effective to leave at likely voters' homes and recruit lots of volunteers to help you. Grassroots rock!
Good luck! We need more good people in politics.
philf99
(238 posts)Get to know your county's chair and members of the executive committee. They can provide you further guidence.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)you can participate, and then participate like crazy. After a couple of years, you will be known as an active Democrat, and will be able to run to be a delegate at a district, county, or even the state convention. There, make yourself useful and become known to active Democrats from different areas.
Next, run for a city or county office from which the current Democrat is stepping down. You should already know that person and will have helped that person get elected the last time. Here's a tip: Knock on as many doors as you possibly can and get family and friends to do that, as well. If you campaign well enough and hard enough, you will have a decent chance of winning.
After serving in that county or city office, run in your district for your state legislature, either against a Republican or to replace a Democrat who is leaving that office. Don't compete against an incumbent Democrat for an office. That incumbent has a long list of friends in the Democratic organization and your running will be disliked. A lot.
If you are elected to the state legislature, make it your highest priority to help people in your district solve problems. Show up everywhere you can where people are gathered. Introduce yourself and ask people what they think needs to be done. When they tell you, try to help make that happen.
After a couple of terms in the state legislature, if you are active and becoming well-known as a "can do" Democrat, run for Congress in your district when the current representative of that district is retiring or running for higher office.
That's how it's done. Occasionally, someone comes from out of the woodwork to run and wins, but that's very, very rare. Unless you are a very charismatic leader, that's a very unlikely path.