Hello! As promised, here is part one of the Election Dynamics article series. This series of articles will be discussing some of the important factors that Green Party candidates need to be aware of when deciding to run for elected office.
We are a political party, first and foremost, not an issue-advocacy group. There are groups out there for that, but this is about politics and democracy, and that means building support among the electorate and winning elections.
In this first article, we will talk about the basic steps that need to be taken when researching a run for office.
Know Your Environment
This is absolutely key when running for office.
1. Scheduling: when are elections scheduled in your jurisdiction? They may be scheduled yearly or every two years. This is important because you need to plan enough lead-time in order to mount a successful campaign that has a good chance of meeting your campaign goals. The lesson to take away is: The more lead-time, the better. Knowing the election schedule will allow you to start earlier, which allows for more organizing time, more fundraising time, better messaging, identification of supporters, and planning. For example: I ran for U.S. Senate in Iowa for the 2004 election. I started planning and organizing in the late summer/fall of 2003, and started the campaign in December 2003 - nearly a full year before the elections.
2. Filing requirements: Filing requirements can vary greatly between jurisdictions, and states. The vast majority of election law is written at the state legislature level, and this leads to some great diversity. If you are running for a state legislative seat, a state-wide elected seat (governor, attorney general, etc), or Congressional seat - you will want to visit your states Department of Elections or Secretary of State's website and familiarize yourself with the rules for candidates.
If you are running for local office (county-level or below), you will also want to check with the appropriate local election authority. Some jurisdictions (but not all!) have "Home Rule" and set their own election laws and requirements. Minneapolis, MN and St. Paul, MN are good examples of cities that set their own election regulations.
Petition vs Convention vs Primary - or, "How the heck do I get my name on the ballot?!" - You will also need to know how to get your name on the ballot. Here are the more common methods:
A. Petition - the jurisdiction requires X number of valid signatures on or before a certain date in order to get your name on the ballot. Now, the art and science of signature gathering is far to deep and complex to get into here, but suffice it to say, you can never start petitioning too early (at least not earlier than permissible by law), and you can never have too many signatures. A good guideline is to gather at least twice as many signatures as required by law. If you need 250 signatures, get 500, etc. Some advantages to petitioning are: it's a low-pressure way to get your name out "Hi, I'm running for dog catcher, my name is John Smith, can you help me put my name on the ballot this November?" Don't forget to give them your pamphlet after they are done signing....
B. Convention - some states allow for party nominating conventions. Generally, a convention must be convened with a specified number of delegates from each county within the voting district (congressional district or state-wide if US Senate, Governor, etc). If you are a Green running in a state that allows this, and you have a strong, organized state Green Party, this may be the route to follow. Close coordination and early consultation with local and state Green Party leaders is key in order to lock in their support, especially if you have two or more Greens competing to run on the same ballot line. It's a nice problem to have, but can cause conflict and disruption within the party if there is a "contested" convention.
C. Primary - If your state Green Party has full ballot access like our adversaries in the two-party duopoly, you may have to participate in the primary contest. This is simply a process by which the voters of the state decide who the candidate will be. Getting on the primary ballot often requires gathering petition signatures as earlier mentioned. However, if you win the primary, you are generally guaranteed the ballot line in the fall without further petitioning requirements. Again, consult your state Dept of Elections or Secretary of State.
3. Misc: Other factors to consider....
Is the race partisan or non-partisan? Many local level races do not allow direct party labels or mention of party names in campaign material. You will need to consider if this is an asset or a liability. Also, this will factor into your messaging - as a Green Party member, you may have to put more specific emphasis on Green Party values and ideas to fully identify you as the true progressive in the race!
Single seat vs Multi-seat? Some elected boards (school, water, conservation, etc) elect multiple members at once. Often this appears as a list of candidates with a "choose no more than 3" on the ballot. Many times the number of people running is less than the number of open seats. This could be an easy win for you and your Green Party allies.
Defined geographic district vs At Large? Many seats (city council, legislative) are defined districts with residency requirements. However, some city council seats and other elected bodies (county board of supervisors) have "at large" seats that allow anyone within a wider area to run, and not be tied to a specific area of voters.
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This concludes part one of the 3 part series on Election Dynamics. Hope you have found it useful and informative. Suggestions and comments are welcome!
Stay tuned for Election Dynamics Part 2: What is the goal of running for office? (Hint - it can be for reasons other than winning the election? GASP! What?)
Daryl Northrop
http://www.darylnorthrop.com/
Friday, July 2, 2010 at 8:14AM 
