You clicked like on that Facebook post didn’t you? That one with the nice purple sign? Well don’t forget the money!
Running for local office makes for a lonely couple of months.
It occupies every waking thought and there’s not really a lot of work you can get done by other folks.
The last thing someone running for office wants to think about, or ask for, is money.
Sure, your friends can help get signs out, and you may have some noisy cheerleaders, but when it comes to delivering the personal message, which is really what counts at the town level, it’s all on the lonely candidate.
Knocking on stranger’s doors to introduce yourself is a test.
After all, you can’t just keep shouting into that same echo chamber. You need to reach people who will vote and who do not already know you.
But it really costs.
I know from personal experience that the candidate often ends up shouldering a debt by themselves. Unlike state house races there is no public funding for this..
It is on you and your friends.
You do it because you know it has to be done and, in this moment, there is no one else to do it.
Just for entertainment I went down cellar and pulled out the old files from the last time I ran for town council way back in 2011. Like Katie Stansky’s mine was an at-large race so I had about the same number of signs up. I would hazard a guess that that sign on your lawn cost about $10-15.
The first time I ran for town council I ended up carrying about 30-40% of the costs of the campaign myself. It was easier the second time I ran in 2011 but I still ended up in the hole.
Katie has some bigger challenges. First, this is a special election so just letting people know they should vote is a hurdle.
Second, early voting is such a big thing these days all those folks who typically vote early need to be reached. You can’t just focus on election day or you’ll miss a third of voters.
How much would I like you to give?
$25 would pay for your sign and one other sign (it’s ok that you didn’t get a sign—I know, I know, they’re really nice ones—you can still help pay for them)
$50 would deliver a mailing to fifty of those early voters.
$100 is sort of the sweet spot. If everyone with an initial impulse to give gave $100 then 40 or 50 donors would take care of the whole thing. A lot of people have the impulse to give but finding the check book is such a hassle….hey look Venmo!!
Here’s the Venmo if you use it. If you can’t or prefer to write a check, it’s Katie Stansky for School Board, 2 Rose Douglas Lane, Brunswick, Maine 04011
How much can you give? Municipal candidates are limited to gifts of no more than $600 in either cash or “in-kind” donations.
The candidate and their spouse—they can give as much as they want—but do you really want someone who is going to go to meetings for three years to suffer the slings and arrows of the maliciously misinformed to have to pay for it?
These are really great signs. It’s a clear message, visible from a long distance but outside the norm of the standard blue or red. In 2011 I spent about $1150 on signs during a three way town council race. It accounted for about 40% of the total cost of the campaign. I hate to guess what it costs these days. It would say a lot, if you are supporter, to help spread this cost out.