Written by Cory Wolbach, Civic Leadership Manager
Before you jump into the deep end of a swimming pool, first, you might want to check a few things. Is there water in the pool? How deep is it? Is the water warm? Are there people there whom I might land on? Is there a lifeguard on duty? Do I know how to swim? Asking these questions doesn’t mean you should dive in and have a great time. Asking those questions helps you make sure you will have a great time.
If you or someone you know is thinking about running for office, that’s awesome! Now slow down. I say this having both won and lost local races myself, and having advised and mentored dozens of prospective candidates and campaign managers across the region over the past decade.
Before you or your friend decides to jump into a race, take your time and look carefully. Doing so will help you avoid common pitfalls, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, set you up for success, and have fun through the whole process.
What does looking carefully mean? Before launching a campaign, first assess personal readiness and viability.
Personal Readiness.
Are you (or your friend) ready to work your tail off to win and prepared to serve for several years? Is your life, family, and career ready? Are you emotionally prepared for any outcome of the campaign so that fear of loss won’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Are you needed in this race at this time, or will you crowd the field and syphon votes from another great person who is better positioned to win? If they are so great, why aren’t you just helping them on their team?
Viability.
Are you (or your friend) supported by an excellent team? Has the team written a clear plan to win? Do you have a strong list of early endorsers? If the answer to any of these questions is no, consider that a warning sign that you need to fix something. Give yourself a couple more weeks to fix it. After more time, if you still can’t get those three things in decent shape, go find someone else who needs your help and join their team.
In our Civic Leadership Program, we go into greater depth. We need good people to run for the dozens of open local offices this year. Every candidate for each office will need a campaign manager and a team to help them win. That means there are a ton of opportunities to take a direct or indirect role in elections this year. Local offices are especially important for solving our housing affordability and homelessness crisis. Local offices set policy to plan for new homes; preserve affordable homes; protect and empower tenants; and coordinate our housing needs with our transportation, equity, and environmental needs.
Wherever you can help, do so. Our democracy needs you, and our community needs you. But look before you jump.
If you want to talk more about championing housing justice in your community through a local campaign, reach out to cory@svh-actionfund.org