Chapter 8 Winning Local Elections
Winning Local Elections You have the potential to become a potent political operative here it counts right in your on backyard, precinct, district, hometon, and stomping ground. You do not have to stand in line behind campaign managers, media consultants, or the money folks. You can be first in the hearts and minds of your elected officials. Here are some talking points about ho to get there Remember e are the EDUCATION Association. (Name your retired organization) Knoledge is Poer. u Learning the political details of your hometon. The path to the lobby begins at the street, the meeting hall, your job, the neighborhood, the grocery store, the polling place: u Delivering votes to your elected officials. When you heard for the lobby, take your common sense ith you: u Effective lobbying techniques. Building your association machine: u The foot bone s connected to the head bone. Decide today to become the leader of your chosen constituency: u A checklist for action. Lobbying The first thing to remember in dealing ith elected officials is that they are, after all, human beings. Contrary to hat some may think, most elected officials are honorable and desire to be of service to their constituents and the state as a hole. Most are not puppets of the special interests. In all probability, your elected officials are sincere and honest and are trying to do a good job. In your dealings ith your elected officials, alays ork on the premise that the rightness of your position ill in their votes. Hoever, remember that elected officials also ant to stay in office and are subject to a number of influences from other groups and personalities that may affect their re-election possibilities. Therefore, your position on any given piece of legislation may not prevailat least not this year. But there is alays next year. Many stateide bills do not pass the legislature in the first year that they are introduced. Fore example, it took 14 years to get the Personnel Records bill enacted into la. Chapter 8-3
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook Your elected officials may change their minds in a year or to, so keep on good terms. Do not expect your elected official to alays do exactly hat you ant on every bill. If they do not vote ith us on one bill, maybe they ill support other parts of our program. It is important to alays keep the channel of communication open ith your elected officials. You ill earn their respect ith persistence and ith a professional and mature approach. Methods of Contact As a member of the team for your district, you may be dealing ith your elected officials in several ays- in person, in riting, by telephone, by e-mail, and by fax. In-person contacts are considered the most preferable, ritten contacts are second, and telephone contacts are third. Hoever bear in mind that any contact is better than no contact. In Person 1. Alays make an appointment. You may miss your elected official if you drop in ithout an appointment. You may ait too long and your fello team members may become tired and disgusted. Also, you may force your elected official to postpone something he or she needs to finish, creating negative feelings instead of goodill. Appointments are not necessary hen the legislature is in session. You may drive a long ay to your state capitol only to find out that your elected official is not there. Your UniServ director ill be able to tell you hen and here to contact your elected official. When in session, elected officials may come out the House or Senate chambers to see you if you send in a note. Ask the guard to give your note to the appropriate elected official. 2. Alays introduce yourself even at second, third, and fourth meetings. Do not put your elected official in an akard position of having to ask you name or of trying to bluff his or her ay through the meeting ithout ever calling your name. An elected official meets many people and cannot remember everyone. 3. Get don to business quickly. Chat a little, but tell your elected official hy you are there as quickly as possible and tell him or her hat you ant. 4. Be courteous. The role of a Legislative Contact Team member is to explain, inform, and persuade- not to attack, threaten, or belittle. Elected officials are to be referred to and treated ith courtesy and proper respect, regardless of the past positions they have taken. Use a tactful, lo-key approach. Do not be aggressive; rather, be assertive. Chapter 8-4
Winning Local Elections 5. Sho forcefulness. You ill get more respect (for yourself and your issue) if you are seen as knoledgeable about the issue and unilling to be pushed around. 6. Be committed. Your cause is honorable and orthhile. Do not let the elected official eaken your support for an issue. Believe in your cause hen you go see your elected official. Timidity may impeach your cause. 7. Try to persuade your elected official to commit to your position. 8. Relate your request to an actual experience or a local situation if possible (Example: There are four people in my school ho have had a problem seeing their personnel records. ). 9. Persuade other school employees and friend to contact elected officials. 10. Take an experienced person along to help you lobby if you think you may need help. 11. Kno your subject! Discuss points of interest in an intelligent manner. Be prepared for questions or to give clarifying information. If you are lobbying for the passage of a bill, carry a copy of it ith you in case the elected official ants to see it. Read the bill before you talk to your elected official. 12. Meet ith elected officials as early in the year as possible (prior to the opening of the session- especially ne elected officials). Elected officials often commit themselves to the group hich sees them first. Hoever, some elected officials commit to the last person ho talks to them, so follo-up is also highly advisable. 13. Alays thank your elected official for their time. Many elected officials resent not being thanked. Sending a thank you postcard hen you return home is a good idea. Thank your elected official hen he or she helps you or honors a commitment. 14. Get to kno your elected officials. The more you kno about them and the issues, the more effective you become. You can never kno too much; especially, get to kno here they stand on key education issues. 15. Keep your fello retired members informed of elected officials positions and votes for future action. Future action may be a thank you certificate, plaque, recognition at an Association meeting, etc. or it could be holding elected officials accountable at the next election. 16. If a elected official requests more information, supply it as quickly as possible or refer the request to your UniServ director. 17 Continue to meet ith your elected official, even if he or she tends to vote against us. Absence of contact leads the elected official to assume that no one in the district feels the ay e do. Chapter 8-5
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook E-mail 1. Sign up for list servs. 2. Register your support for elected officials on their ebsites. Mail 1. When the Legislature is in session, send mail and telegrams to Statehouse; hen it is not in session, send them to the elected official s home address. 2. Spell correctly (especially elected official s name). 3. Be brief and to the point. Try to keep your letter to to or there paragraphs. Elected officials receive a great deal of mail and tend not to read lengthy letters. 4. Deal ith one issue. 5. Handritten letters are preferable. Form letters and petitions are not considered as effective as handritten letters. If your handriting is not legible, printing ill do. 6. In your letter, mention that you are one of the elected official s constituents (Example: Dear Senator Smart, I am a teacher in your district and or As a voter in your District I or As you kno e support orkers here in Scant City voted for you, ). 7. Include your telephone number(s) on your letter. The elected official may ant to call you personally to tell you ho he or she voted or just say thank you for the letter. Also, alays put your name and address on the outside of the envelope. 8. Use your Association stationary (if possible) hen you are riting as a representative of your Association. 9. When riting about a specific bill, mention the bill number and the common name of the bill, as ell as the name of the sponsor (Example: I m riting about the pay raise bill, S. 235, by Senator Smart ). If you do not kno the bill s number be sure to use the common name of the bill (Example: The Personnel Records Bill or the Bereavement Leave Bill ). You can get the bill s number and sponsor by calling your UniServ director or someone in the Governmental Relations department. 10. Before mailing, re-read the letter to catch mistakes. 11. Your personal experience is your best supporting evidence. Be specific. Let the elected official kno ho this measure affects his legislative district and ho it affects you and the students. 12. You may rite to any elected official in the state, but your influence ill be felt most in the legislative districts (House and Senate) here you vote. Chapter 8-6
Winning Local Elections Telephone 1. Call only at a reasonable hour (usually before 9 p.m.). Establish ith your elected official the best time to call. 2. First, let the person ansering kno your name: Hello, my name is Mary Jones. May I speak ith Representative Smith? 3. Leave a message (ith your phone number) for your elected official to call back if you are unable to reach him or her. 4. Many elected officials do not like to be disturbed on Saturdays or Sundays, or at mealtimes. When you get your elected official on the phone, identify yourself and your hometon. Ask him or her if he or she can talk for only a brief moment. If he/ she says yes, tell him/ her hy you called. Nevertheless, there may be times hen you must call the elected official on eekends concerning upcoming critical issues. 5. As alays, be courteous, brief, and to the point. Thank the elected official for his or her time. Don ts 1. Don t threaten. Instead, ork on changing your elected official s position. Make it easy for the elected official to vote for you by giving good reasons to vote for your bill. Don t be arrogant or argumentative. Be reasonable. Don t in an argument and lose a vote. Don t demand. 2. Don t beg! Remember, you represent the most important profession in our society. Your concern is for the system of public education hich ill eventually impact all of our students. 3. Don t give in! Many elected officials ill not give you a firm commitment but ill instead try to reason aay your support on an issue. Sho your commitment for the issue. Stay firm in your position on your convictions. Don t compromise aay a possible in for the Association s position. Consistently reaffirm your conviction. 4. Don t take up too much time. Elected officials are busy people and may come to look upon you as a nuisance if you prolong the visit unnecessarily. 5. Don t be belligerent or get angry if the elected official is not completely supportive of your position. He or she may not vote for final passage of your bill, but maybe he or she could be persuaded not to vote or vote against harmful amendments. 6. Don t chastise or appear to chastise the elected official in public, but let him or her kno that you are aare of his/ her vote or position on an issue. Chapter 8-7
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook 7. Don t use form letters, mimeographed letters, or printed postal cards. They give no evidence that you are familiar ith the issue or that you can think for yourself. 8. Don t be too ordy. Be concise and to the point. 9. Don t bluff or hedge if you don t kno the anser to a particular question. Offer to get back in touch ith the elected official as soon as possible ith the requested information. 10. Don t forget to read the state association publication to keep up ith the issues. It is published eekly hen the legislature is in session. Before the legislature begins, you and your fello team members ill be requested to meet it h your respective elected officials. During these meetings, please secure commitments from your elected officials. Commitments during the early stages of the legislative session are very important. Elected officials sometimes come under great pressures to change their positions but if they are already committed to you to support or oppose a specific issue, they ill most likely keep their commitments. Therefore, gaining early commitments on a given issue may mean the difference beteen success and failure. Chapter 8-8
Winning Local Elections Sample Letter Route One Joppa, AL 35087 February 3, 2009 Rep. Jackie Voteright Alabama Statehouse 11 South Union Street Montgomery, AL 36103 Dear Ms. Voteright: I am a retired school custodian from Ryan School. I m contacting you to ask for your support of HB 1967 by Rep. Goodguy, the Constitutional amendment to keep public education monies from being diverted for other purposes. With the ratification of this amendment, e ill have $320 million more for our school and colleges. Our students need this money, and I ask you to do your best to stop diverting funds intended for our schools for pork barrel projects and other purposes. In Appreciation, Joe Cottle (334) 277-2493 Chapter 2-9 Chapter 8-9
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook Sample Campaign Preparation Checklist Week Sixteen Date Done Make final decision about hether to run. Do election statistics analysis. Do demographic analysis. Get maps of district. See hat issues people are concerned about. Check campaign expenditures of candidates in last election. Verify all campaign funding disclosure requirements and timelines and file reports as required Purchase ebsite address. Develop ebsite content. Week Fifteen Date Done Hire or get a volunteer to be the campaign s eb designer. Create an e-mail listserv for supporters. Set up staff or volunteers meeting do issue analysis in district and recruit orkers. Talk to experienced political leaders about district and kind of campaign needed to in. Rank issues in terms of importance. Formulate candidate s position on each issue. Select the most important issue your issue. Prepare a ritten statement of the candidate s position on thatissue. Kno enough about all issues to discuss them intelligently and to anser questions. Coin a campaign slogan and do message development. Choose a campaign theme. Arrange candidate photo session. Gather photos for campaign literature. Chapter 8-10
Winning Local Elections Week Fourteen Date Done Revie statistics ith staff, volunteers, and the experienced political leaders in your area. Analyze each precinct and ho many votes you ill need out of it to in election. Assign each precinct a priority in terms of ho ell you can expect to do there, schedule time, and resources accordingly. Check absentee voting procedures and assign someone the job of coordinating a program to get these votes. Pick your target number to in. Start looking for speaking opportunities for the candidate. Revie local advertisements for upcoming community events. Events can become photo ops and meet and greet opportunities. Week Thirteen Date Done Third staff or volunteer meeting initial budget planning. Estimate all internal campaign expenses such as rent, telephones, postage, stationery, copies. Estimate cost of the alternative campaigning methods such as radio, television, bulk mail, first-class mail. Estimate cost of printing literature, signs, etc. Estimate your revenue sources and ho much the other candidates may be illing to spend based on past election cycles. Consider other revenue sources, donations, fundraisers, PAC money. Establish your Fundraising Targets for each cycle of the campaign. Target contributions (family, friends, business associates, lobby groups). (Do not try to resolve all budget questions at this time.) Chapter 8-11
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook Week Telve Date Done Volunteer coordinator to report number of volunteers recruited. Prepare and design the basic campaign brochure ith candidate s positions and qualifications. Prepare the campaign forms to be used in headquarters volunteer cards, scheduler forms, precinct volunteer packets. Week Eleven Date Done Write the candidate s basic stump speech, incorporating the campaign theme and scheduling public appearances for the candidate. Locate a place to be the campaign headquarters and begin getting ready for the campaign. Week Ten Date Done Final check of Party qualifying timelines and procedures. Open campaign checking account; open file for financial reporting requirements. Send out nes release on your candidacy and position on issues. Week Nine Date Done Send Thank you note to everyone ho signed as your volunteer along ith a ticket to your initial announcement and fundraiser. Follo up ith those ho could not attend. Finish lining up hat is needed for the campaign headquarters telephone, desk, computer, copier, office supplies, stationery, stamps, etc. Chapter 8-12
Winning Local Elections Week Eight Date Done Open the headquarters send out a ne release. Post district map and campaign calendar in headquarters, and have campaign forms ready. Use map to post candidate time spent in each precinct and other resources used in that part of district. This ill help keep focused. Start computer databases, ritten lists of contributors, volunteers, media addresses, etc. Hold your initial public fundraiser send out nes releases. Start orking neighborhoods door-to-door. Week Seven Date Done Fourth staff or volunteer meeting final budget planning. Nes releases on campaign issue. Consider the benefit of challenging your opponent to a debate. Line up precinct volunteers. Explain volunteer vote and confirm their commitment. Produce radio spots. Hold meet ups, house parties, and fundraisers. Neighborhood canvassing: plan time for candidate to visit voters door-to-door. Week Six Date Done Schedule eekly staff meetings for the next six eeks. Plan and rite ne releases. Get packets of campaign materials out. Make address labels for packets. Find precinct volunteers for remaining precincts. Target mailing lists for special messages by mail. Continue door-to-door canvassing of neighborhoods. Chapter 8-13
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook Week Five Date Done *Schedule eekly staff meetings. *Nes releases. *Neighborhood canvassing. Set up campaign office. Addressing party at headquarters/operating telephone bank recruiting volunteers and supporters. *Schedule meet ups, house parties, and fundraisers. Second public fundraiser should be held in this eek. Check on absentee ballots; campaign plan, design and implement a plan to get these votes. Prepare draft of finance report; check for accuracy. Prepare nespaper ads. Schedule ad placement. (*Actions should be on-going) Week Four Date Done Start radio at least to spots per day in drive time. Attend local community events and campaign. Send special mailings to targeted audiences. Prepare and send e-mail campaign updates to campaign supporters ho registered on ebsite. *Schedule eekly staff meeting. *Nes release. *Neighborhood canvassing. *Schedule meet ups, house parties, and fundraisers. (*Actions should be on-going) Week Three Date Done Attend forums, if nes coverage is to be available (i.e. League of Women Voters). Check to see if mail is being handled properly and radio or TV spots are airing. File pre-election finance reports as required. *Schedule eekly staff meetings. *Ne releases. *Neighborhood canvassing. *Radio spots at least three spots per day. (*Actions should be on-going) Chapter 8-14
Winning Local Elections Week To Date Done Start nespaper ads, if applicable. Radio at least five spots per day. Schedule volunteer training/reconfirm commitment to help. *Schedule eekly staff meetings. *Ne releases. *Neighborhood canvassing. Finish building media message to portray your solution to problems. Check on absentee ballots. *Schedule meet ups, house parties, and other gatherings. Update candidate s ebsite. (*Actions should be on-going) Week One Date Done Schedule daily staff meetings. Ne releases. Schedule volunteer coordination meeting. Neighborhood canvassing. Radio spots at least five per day. Finish your mail program. Schedule meet ups, house parties, and fundraisers. Plan for opportunities to sho your candidate as a inner; i.e. testimonials ads, nespaper or other prominent endorsements. Check to make sure absentee votes are all in. Have volunteers at strategic locations aving ith signs. Have poll atchers for each precinct. Develop an election night reporting system to call in results. Have prepared victory (or concession) statement and arrangements made to issue. Coordinate Get Out The Vote (GOTV) campaign. Chapter 8-15
Membership Organizing & Resource Handbook State Capitol The Legislature meets during a specific time period each year at the State Capitol building. Identify time, date, and location of committee meetings. The bills to be considered in committees are usually listed by committee according to bill number. You may have to enter the building through an electronic metal detector hen visiting the State Capitol, so it is recommended that you avoid excessive metal jeelry. Bags, purses, and brief cases may be searched. Maps Donload maps of the State Capitol and any office buildings you ill need to visit. Maps can be found by using an online search engine (i.e. Yahoo, Google, etc.). Type the name of the state and the ord Capitol then press enter. For the best results select a ebsite ith.gov in the title. Checklist for Action You Can Begin Today! Identify all elected officials in my precinct/ard/district. Get precinct maps or internet site (i.e. Voter Action Netork - VAN). Find and copy past election results. Ride the polling places in my House district. Plan a one-eek voter registration campaign in your area. Visit the Board of Registrars or government agency responsible for managing voter registrations collect information. Take a reading on upcoming local election(s). (Examine the data to determine the candidate(s) potential for victory.) Write a note to your state elected official. Call your UniServ Director volunteer for local campaign ork. Chapter 8-16