This fall, I ran for election to my local Board of Education. All four Democratic incumbents on our board were up for election. Our campaign began in August and continued through November 7th. By the numbers, I
- made 217 calls
- wrote 150 postcards
- knocked on 125 doors
- attended 8 community events
- wrote 4 Letters to the Editor
- won by 3 votes
- a friend's mom who's critically ill, wasn't planning to vote, but got fired up about issues and decided to make her (& her husband's) wishes known
- firefighters whom my friend's husband texted, telling them to vote for me
- a guy on my husband's basketball league who said it was hard to vote for a Democrat but he did it
- Every vote matters and counts.
- I was elected to represent all residents, including roughly half the voters who didn't vote for me, and I feel the gravity of listening to and acting on what all residents want.
- Our electorate is divided over issues playing out on the national stage. Issues in local politics are unique from many of the issues playing out nationally. Communicating these differences and what we're working on locally is imperative.