Up in arms over the direction your county is headed in? Up in arms over the direction the state is headed in? Up in arms over the direction our nation is headed in? I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that’s the case.
Wonder what you can do about it besides contacting your elected officials, attending civic meetings, signing petitions, voting, and rallying for causes?
You could run for office in 2010! Despite all our gripes about elected officials, how many times do we see unopposed candidates on our ballots? Far too often! Voters need choices on ballots!
For many races, the eligibility rules for candidates aren’t all that complicated, especially legislative races, where citizenship, residency, and voter registration are often the only criteria for eligibility. Don’t automatically suppose you wouldn’t be qualified to run. There’s an excellent chance you’re eligible for a great many positions. The Ohio Secretary of State webpage can be a starting point for checking on candidacy requirements and deadlines. Some of the pointers I shared about launching a candidacy for municipal offices apply to running for county, state, and federal offices, too.
Don’t know much about running a campaign? Phil Van Treuren, who ran a successful campaign this year, has a blog titled “Killer Campaigning,” which is very thought-provoking. I bet you’ll find highly useful information there. Start with this important advice about consulting family about a potential candidacy, then feel free to absorb the remainder of the blog’s articles thereafter. Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather. That’s a great opportunity to discuss launching a campaign with family members. December’s holidays are also great opportunities to further communicate with family about launching an election bid.
On the ballot for next year:
- Judicial branch: county court, state appellate court, and state Supreme Court judge positions
- Legislative branch: county commissioner, some state school board seats, all state rep seats, odd-numbered state senate district seats, all seats for U.S. House of Representatives, and a U.S. Senate seat
- Executive branch: county auditor, Ohio governor and lieutenant governor, Ohio Secretary of State, Ohio Treasurer, Ohio Auditor, and Ohio Attorney General
I’m hoping voters are swamped with choices next year. Please consider putting your name on the ballot.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Buckeye RINO 
November 25, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Good for you for writing this post. Another excellent resource, regardless of political party:
How to Win a Local Election – it’s written by a retired Ohio judge and comes w/a CD ROM. I used it constantly.
http://www.amazon.com/Local-Election-Revised-Step-Step/dp/0871318784
Also, although it comes from a progressive librul, its advice for a number of skills and steps necessary to any campaign is excellent: The Wellstone Way – by Paul Wellstone’s kids.
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Wellstone-Way-Progressive-Candidates/dp/0816646651
November 25, 2009 at 4:26 pm
First of all, congratulations on your election victory, Jill! Second, welcome back to the blogosphere! You’ve been missed. Third, thanks for the links! Uncovering information resources to demystify what campaigning is all about will, I hope, embolden more people to run.
November 27, 2009 at 4:19 am
I highly recommend Jill’s recommendation of the “How to win a local campaign.” Also, having Phil as a friend for many years that his website “Killer Campaigning” is a great resource for anyone wanting to run for office. In recent events here in Elyria we are faced with a recall of our mayor. Say what you will about Mayor Grace and the things he has done or has not done over the years however, I stand firm on the recall that I do not support it and I have urged the supporters of the recall to run for office themselves or find a candidate they can believe in and support him or her.
December 13, 2009 at 11:32 am
Wanted to share with you a new resource for Lorain City Council—enjoy! As it gets more robust, it should be a great way to watch the corruption happening from your computer without a whole lot of digging.
http://public.sheet.zoho.com/publish/ladalang/counciltracker-3
December 26, 2009 at 7:28 am
The link will change but it’s on my site. Sorry
December 15, 2009 at 5:13 pm
[…] Consider running for office in 2010 […]
December 31, 2009 at 6:09 am
Great video on the role of representatives.
[video src="http://easylink.playstream.com/jerryday/Matrix/Who_Reps_You-ffp_vp6_400x224_300.flv" /]
January 7, 2010 at 6:23 pm
[…] Consider running for office in 2010 […]
February 9, 2010 at 4:48 pm
[…] mentioned the mechanics of gathering signatures in past blog articles here and here. For more campaign tips, let me plug the Killer Campaigning website one more […]