How To Win A Local Election, Revised by M. Andrew Grey

Author:M. Andrew Grey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781461663058
Publisher: M. Evans & Company
Published: 2006-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

MONEY AND FUNDRAISING

Money is the mother’s milk of politics.

Jesse Unruh, Former Speaker

of the House, California

WE FEEL QUALIFIED to write this book because we know a fair amount about many of the details of local campaigning, but in all honesty, if we were really good at political fundraising, one of us would be governor and the other would be chief justice of the state supreme court. What we can do, however, is tell you about some of the things we have learned about fundraising and suggest some of the things you might want to try in your race.

The first thing to decide about fundraising is whether you want to do it at all. Raising money is a demeaning sort of business. When I was running for the state supreme court, we got a $10,000 check in the mail from a labor PAC. They knew from the way I had decided cases in the past that I could be described as a friend of labor. No one had solicited that donation, no one said that the PAC expected me to vote a certain way on court cases, and as a matter of fact, nobody from that organization ever talked to me. Still I could not help but feel that they expected something for their money, and that if I did not realize that, I did not have enough sense to be on the state supreme court. My opponent in that race, Robert Holmes, who was the nicest guy I ever ran against, told me that whenever he got a large donation that it made him feel the same way.

In a local campaign, you might decide to finance the race entirely out of your own pocket and not do any fundraising at all. This can be very expensive; indeed, it is a luxury. Ross Perot, who is extremely rich, winced when he was told what a presidential campaign would cost. If you are in a smaller contest, however, and if you have a lot of volunteers, it is an alternative to consider.

When you finance your own campaign, you do not have to spend any time on fundraising and can concentrate entirely on getting votes. It also simplifies the campaign financial reporting requirements since you have to list only one contributor. In some states, if the candidate spends only his own money and his expenses are below a certain level, he does not have to file a financial statement at all. Check this out by reading your local election regulations.

Paying it all out of your own pocket may not be possible, and even if the candidate is willing to spend a lot of his own money, most campaigns may have to resort to some kind of fundraising to get the kind of money needed to win.

Fundraising is hard! Mother Teresa, the selfless nun who won a Nobel prize for her charitable work, said even she had a hard time raising money. There are many worthy endeavors putting the bite on people, and unfortunately most people do not think of politics as a worthy endeavor.

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