Election Starter Kit: What You Need to Know to Run For Office!

In the time I’ve spent writing political articles for University Chic, I’ve written a lot of articles encouraging college women to get out and vote and participate in the political process that way. But this time, I’m encouraging any girl reading this to take your political participation up a notch: run for office!

No, I’m not joking. You may not be able to run for the House or Senate just yet (unless you’re at least 25 or 30, respectively) but there are plenty of other elected offices around the country that any individual over 18 can run for.

There are currently 16 women in the U.S. Senate, 71 women in the U.S. House, nine women governors and 1,732 women serving in state legislatures in January, we have only scratched the surface. Even with these successes, women currently hold fewer than 25% of all elected offices in the U.S. and, as a nation, we rank 68th in the world for representation of women in government.

Where to Begin?

What kind of offices can you run for? You may not be able to run for Congress just yet, but you can run for smaller offices like city council, local school boards or commissions, over even mayor. Many communities allow anyone over 18 to run for municipal offices, like the 18-year-old who was elected as mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan! A good place to start is by checking with your local College Democrats, College Republicans, or League of Women Voters, all of whom will have a wealth of information about what local races are coming up and what their eligibility requirements are to run.

Don’t Do it Alone

If you’re interested in running, yes, it’s likely that some of your friends may think you’re crazy at first. But that doesn’t mean you’re running alone! There are tons of organizations out there devoted to helping women run for office, and they can connect you to fantastic support networks and resources and everything you need to run a successful campaign. Here are a few organizations you can reach out to for help:

Running Start is a nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring young girls and women to run for political office. http://www.runningstartonline.org/

Women’s Campaign Forum is probably one of the best organizations out there for women who want to run for office, offering tons of helpful information, training, resources, and assistance to help you run a successful campaign. If you’re contemplating running and unsure of how to do it, make sure to contact the Women’s Campaign Forum. http://www.wcfonline.org

She Should Run is a project of the Women’s Campaign Forum, which features a blog about women running for office and, perhaps most importantly, a step-by-step guide for running for office. It includes everything you need to know about campaign finance, fundraising, online campaigning, being the candidate, and more. http://www.sheshouldrun.org

WUFPAC is the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee, which supports young women running for federal and statewide offices. They have plenty of resources about getting elected, women who they’ve helped, and even information on how to start a chapter of WUFPAC on your college campus. http://www.wufpac.org

A Few Things to Remember…

You must have thick skin. Political candidates are subjecting themselves to a lot of scrutiny and making themselves extremely vulnerable. Your opponents and their supporters will pull out all the stops to attempt to make you lose – but you can’t let it get to you; it’s all part of the political game.

You need a campaign manager, and one you trust. Behind every successful campaign is a brilliant, trustworthy campaign manager. Avoid picking someone you’re too close to emotionally, like a relative or close friend – pick someone who knows you well but can also be honest about your strengths and weaknesses, and whose guidance and wisdom you trust.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Many a successful politician got into office after multiple failed attempts. If you run for office and lose, don’t be embarrassed, ashamed, or swear of politics altogether; see it as opportunity to grow and learn from, and start planning your next campaign!

delicious

digg

technorati

Email this page