Alex Patton

First time political candidate checklist – BEFORE announcing

First time political candidate

• Decided if you really want to run for office:

• 1) Talk to your Family. We mean REALLY talk. A couple of reasons - I- Campaigns are stressful on the family., II- You are away. You will be gone – fundraising, walking neighborhood, events., III- You can be attacked and your secrets will come out. You need to make sure there is nothing you want to tell your spouse before you announce., IV- Have school age children? Your campaign will become a conversation piece for kids and their parents.

• 2) Think about your employment situation -even if you are the boss/owner/ceo – A couple of reasons - I- Campaigns are stressful on the work environment., II- You are away. Your lunches will be expanded in time so that you can travel across town to attend the X luncheon. You may come in late so that you can attend the X breakfast. You may leave early so that you can attend X meeting., III- Who will pick up your slack and more importantly will they resent it?, IV- If you win, and you have to attend day long meetings or if you goto Tallahassee and have to be gone for weeks or months – how will you get your “real” job done?, V- The minute you announce you are a Republican that wants to end X program, and your best assistant OR YOUR BOSS has an Uncle dependent upon X program, you are going to hear about it., VI- If you are not the boss, ask for permission. I am amazed on how many people don’t tell their employer they are thinking about running. You need to have a plan that addresses the points above, but you must have the discussion.

• 3) Answer this question, if I win, then what? - I- What will my family life be like? If I have meetings every Wednesday and Junior has baseball games every Wednesday, am I willing to sacrifice? If I am gone for two months to Tallahassee and it takes me 5 hours to travel, will my family join me for session in Tallahassee? etc. etc., II- What will my job be like? Is there a different role I may need to explore with the company? Who in the organization can pick up my duties at least partially? If I own the company, do I have the support staff needed? Can I find them?, III- Can I afford it? really! What is the opportunity cost to you getting elected? Will your billable hours be reduced to be replaced by a $30,000 annual salary? Are you ok with that?

• Decided if you can win:

• 1) Fundraising - I- No first time candidate, unless they have done it, can fully appreciate the time, effort, and difficulty in raising money., II-  Do you have 100 -150 friends that will give you X donation? Is that enough to win?, III- More importantly, ARE YOU WILLING TO ASK 100-150 friends to give you X donation? Is that enough to win? (I have witnesses many self assured candidates fall to pieces asking for money.), IV- Most candidates will need to spend 70-80% of their time raising money. No one else can take on this role for candidates, they have been and will remain the Chief Fund Raiser in Charge., V- Before you announce take out a sheet of paper, write a name, a phone number, and how much you are going to ask them for. (yes, the phone number is important – if you don’t have it handy, you may not be as close as you think you are). Total it up. Take a list of previous contributors to like candidates? Know them? write it down. etc. [side-note: When I ask first time candidates to make this list, we total it up, cut it by 50%, then cut it again by 25% – and that is the initial internal working budget], VI- Is the timing right? When do I need the money in the bank? Need to raise $150,00 and you have two weeks until qualifying? You may want to reconsider.

• 2) District - I- Do I meet any residency requirements? Some districts have residency requirements, some you must live in for a period of time to be eligible to run., II- Do I meet any other requirements? Age, etc., III- If no residency requirement before the election to office, are there after? Do I need to move? If so, what is the plan?, IV- What is the past performance of the district? Voter Registration is a starting point, but you really want the PERFORMANCE for your district. Get as many data points as you can get your hands on. If you are a Republican, and the district you wish to run for performs 63% Democratic, you may want to reconsider. The dirty little secret? You may be the most incredible potential politician to walk the face of the Earth – but if you are in the wrong district, you may stand a significant chance of not winning.

• 3) Political Environment - I- What else will be going on during your potential ballot? Are you running during a presidential election, a gubernatorial election, or a stand alone election? How will other races affect your ballot? Are there any amendments or proposals on the ballot that may affect turnout?, II- What is the mood of the electorate? Don’t know? Talk to people- fast. Don’t know? Poll.