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This would be much more useful if they displayed some election statistics and information on incumbents and political parties. The stated purpose of the tool i

This would be much more useful if they displayed some election statistics and information on incumbents and political parties. The stated purpose of the tool is: > Today, 40% of state legislature races go uncontested and the problem is worse at the local level. There is a crisis of leadership occurring in our democracy. We need more people to lead. We need more people to run for office. > Run for Office is a free service that provides all the tools you need to launch a successful campaign whether you are a seasoned veteran or first—time campaigner. You won't "launch a successful campaign" if you are a nobody running against an incumbent who is supported by the dominant political party in a bright red or deep blue state. You'd need to be a seasoned veteran with wide name recognition who is very well connected, well liked, and also wealthy, but then you're not likely to be using this tool. It's in the races where the incumbent is not running for reelection, the position is nonpartisan, or there's a lot of turnover that someone could say "Hey, I have a chance at that spot."

jimterrapin 10y ago
You're correct in some regards, but the model of $=victory is not as consistent as it used to be. I think of David Brat beating House Speaker Jared Cantor in 2014 as being the canary in the coalmine. There's never an apples to apples comparison, but Cantor had Brat outraised by over 20 to 1, and Brat beat him. On top of that, campaign messages are more and more delivered and received via free mediums, like YouTube, which brings the cost of a campaign down tremendously.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  Brat defeated Eric Cantor who was House Majority Leader not Speaker. John Boehner was Speaker.
notahacker 10y ago
More generally, you're particularly unlikely to succeed as an independent if your motivation for running for office is "I want to find an office that I might be able to contest", as opposed to "I want to fix this issue, and I've discovered that running for this office is the best way to do it"
skolor 10y ago
This (local political action) is something I've found interesting for a while, but never enough to actually get involved. Seeing this made me look up some data for the area around me, since I was curious and the OP didn't have enough data for my area. Apparently the town council elections are coming up soon, with several slots available. If I'm reading through this data correctly, it would take about 2% of the town's residents to vote for a council member to knock out the incumbents, based on last year's election. Someone somewhat active in the community can probably arrange that.
- komali2 10y ago
  And "becoming active" can be as simple as starting to call up local clubs, meetups, universities, whatever, and asking to speak about how you can help them in x or y if you're elected. It can be talking to your neighbors or getting in with local bars and bands (depending on the issues your position will preside over). The Los Altos city council had a seat that was won over and incumbent with a difference of like 7 votes last election, these local elections are very accessible.
erispoe 10y ago
The key here is "who is supported by the dominant political party". The tea party gained so much clout because they got organized to contest internal elections and primaries inside the GOP. It's much more efficient to leverage the existing party infrastructure than to run as a solo independent or try to create a 3rd party. Party elections (for instance, county committee elections) draw much less turnout and can be swayed much more easily by an organized group.
kilroy123 10y ago
Sure but you have to start somewhere. If you're interested, it's best to start at the bottom and work your way up.

jimterrapin 10y ago

You're correct in some regards, but the model of $=victory is not as consistent as it used to be. I think of David Brat beating House Speaker Jared Cantor in 2014 as being the canary in the coalmine. There's never an apples to apples comparison, but Cantor had Brat outraised by over 20 to 1, and Brat beat him. On top of that, campaign messages are more and more delivered and received via free mediums, like YouTube, which brings the cost of a campaign down tremendously.

maxerickson 10y ago
Brat defeated Eric Cantor who was House Majority Leader not Speaker. John Boehner was Speaker.

notahacker 10y ago

More generally, you're particularly unlikely to succeed as an independent if your motivation for running for office is "I want to find an office that I might be able to contest", as opposed to "I want to fix this issue, and I've discovered that running for this office is the best way to do it"

skolor 10y ago

This (local political action) is something I've found interesting for a while, but never enough to actually get involved. Seeing this made me look up some data for the area around me, since I was curious and the OP didn't have enough data for my area. Apparently the town council elections are coming up soon, with several slots available. If I'm reading through this data correctly, it would take about 2% of the town's residents to vote for a council member to knock out the incumbents, based on last year's election. Someone somewhat active in the community can probably arrange that.

komali2 10y ago
And "becoming active" can be as simple as starting to call up local clubs, meetups, universities, whatever, and asking to speak about how you can help them in x or y if you're elected. It can be talking to your neighbors or getting in with local bars and bands (depending on the issues your position will preside over). The Los Altos city council had a seat that was won over and incumbent with a difference of like 7 votes last election, these local elections are very accessible.

erispoe 10y ago

The key here is "who is supported by the dominant political party". The tea party gained so much clout because they got organized to contest internal elections and primaries inside the GOP. It's much more efficient to leverage the existing party infrastructure than to run as a solo independent or try to create a 3rd party. Party elections (for instance, county committee elections) draw much less turnout and can be swayed much more easily by an organized group.

kilroy123 10y ago

Sure but you have to start somewhere. If you're interested, it's best to start at the bottom and work your way up.