“Well, why don’t you run for office?”
Tim’s question caught me by surprise, especially since he was serious. I stuttered for a moment and then he said, “If you don’t, who do you think is going to do it? Most likely the same chump you are griping about will stay in office and keep doing stupid stuff.”
Choosing the last defense of the indefensible, I replied, ”Why don’t you run?”
He response sealed my fate, ”I am running, but you are not in my district so I cannot run against your guy.” Checkmate.
In a nutshell, that is how I ended up running for county commissioner in my county. Sure, I tried to beg off, pleading my complete inexperience, my lack of tenure in my county (4 years), the fact that I was retiring, and my strongly held conservative views in my very blue district. None of those arguments swayed my friend, Tim. (I think he’s a friend…hmmmm.) He just kept pointing out that “God equips the called. He doesn’t call the equipped”. Tim also pointed out that the performance of my opponent in office over 8 years was strong evidence that experience was no guarantee of effectiveness or competence.
Forced by reality and logic to admit that I had no good reason to reject the idea of running for office, I let the local GOP know that I would run if they could not find any other candidate to take on that challenge in my district. The GOP folks probably searched high and low (right!?!) for a better prospect, but somehow they came up empty. Two weeks later, I was standing in the county clerk’s office filing my paperwork to run for county commissioner. That was in April this year.
Since that fateful day my visions of a retirement filled with golf, biking, kayaking, hanging out with friends, great trips, and occasional honey do lists has devolved into a schedule of political meetings, political events, political discussions, political campaigning, political finances, etc. Unfortunately, the honey do lists have not disappeared from my schedule. If you have ever wondered what running for office would be like, let me tell you: it is like military basic training: lots of folks telling you what to do, and you do what you are told because you have no clue what you should be doing. Little by little, the torrent of meetings, conversations, correspondence, and public events starts to feel more normal. At that point, candidates start to feel more confident about what activities are the most impactful and most comfortable for them and they begin to set their own schedule.
In my case, because I am new in my county, I have focused on going door-to-door and meeting people in my district. My county is quite rural and lots of folks have lived here for generations. The GOP voters generally live outside the towns, while Democrat voters cluster in the towns and villages. That makes meeting my likely voters less efficient. Since I started campaigning, and including several days where I helped out my friend Tim in his race, I have visited over 300 hundred residences.
I estimate that I talked to people at about 30% of those places. If no one is home, which is most of the time, I leave campaign literature that introduces me and my policy positions. I have participated in three GOP fund raising events, placed 50 political yard signs, attended half a dozen public meetings, engaged in countless conversations concerning my campaign, trained to be a Trump 47 precinct captain, and steadily ramped up my activity level. After I retired on June 30th, my campaign schedule became my first priority. I even let my son know that for the first time in 7 years, I will not be able to show up at his house in costume for trick or treating with my grandkids. Instead, I will be making a final push for voters to get out and vote.
It has been gratifying to receive campaign donations from friends and family, even some Democrats, but I must admit that it also drives me to work harder. When I take someone’s cash, I feel I owe them my best effort. I may not win, but it will not be for a lack of trying. Given that my opponent is an 8-year incumbent, and my district is Democrat by a plurality of the district electorate, my only chance of winning is to get great GOP turnout, AND to get a majority of independents to vote for me. Interestingly, and sadly. Republican voters have a history of not turning out for elections as well as Democrats do. I am counting on a combination of personal contact, the demonstrated downside of the current commissioner’s policies, and general dissatisfaction with Democrat policies nationally, will translate into a victory in my race.
My campaign is a big reason why I have not been writing for AFNN as much as I did previously but watch this space for more stories from the campaign trail if you are interested in hearing about a truly grassroots political campaign. With any luck, the final story will be about how victory feels.
Editor’s Note: Jim White is running for the position of County Commissioner of Leelanau County, Michigan, District 4. AFNN does not endorse any candidtae, but publishes articles such as this, to raise awarenes of the importance of local elections.
Ed.
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