"How do I find a campaign manager?"

One of my dear friends in the educator world, D.G., found out I was campaigning, and having campaigned for County Council herself, recommended that I get a campaign manager. And when I say recommended, I mean she told me it was a necessity. Cool...how does one get a campaign manager? What does that process even look like? How much does that cost? 

I had talked to a few other candidates about finding campaign managers and my friend A.M. recommended a man in the Democratic Party who had lost his race earlier, but was brilliant and seemed like a good connection. I reached out to this man on Faceook and sent a voice message asking if he would consider being my campaign manager. I even attended the Democratic Primary Convention in an attempt to connect with this guy and introduce myself. We didn't click and it didn't seem like a good fit. (Literally no judgement there - if you're going to spend a lot of time with someone in a campaign, it better be someone who fits!)

I was at a loss. What the freak do I do???

Enter D.G. again: she sent me a contact, J.M. who had been her campaign manager, and told me to reach out.

Enter Elevate Strategies. I remember talking to J.M., one of the founders of this small campaign management firm, on the phone sitting on my couch and telling her that I had a campaign Facebook account, a logo, and had done this or that and she said I was ahead of the game! (Looking back, I wasn't, at all, but that was kind of her to say.) 

Even after attending Pride Parade, starting the conversation with Elevate Strategies, and receiving their contract, I didn't sign the contract until mid-June, but didn't meet with them until after the primaries finished on June 28. 

I remember traveling to Alaska with my husband for a ten day trip over the summer to visit my dad and stepmom and breaking down wondering what in the world I was doing in the campaign realm. I had a to-do list a mile long and zero knowledge of how to accomplish these tasks. According to the "Zone of Proximal Development" (another teacher buzzword here), I was out of the zone where I could accomplish things myself, so I was frozen. 

 I needed to fundraise, get my website prepped, create content for social media, order t-shirts, flyers, yard signs, and much more, but felt incapable, stupid, and frozen in place. I had no idea how to do these things. *Also, as a teacher, I have related to my students many times during this experience: the big ask of doing things you've never done before and don't know how to do is terrifying and puts you in a vulnerable state. Campaign teams are pivotal for first-time campaigners.

During debate prep, I remember talking to my campaign team and they said that their job IS to create the campaign plan: use VoteBuilder and set up Canvass events, write the actual plan, work on messaging, set up digital advertising, order flyers/yard signs/stickers. etc. My job as the candidate is VOTER OUTREACH. My entire job is to be the face, hold conversations, knock doors, etc. I'm not supposed to even know how to do all these extra things - that's what a campaign team is for. The relief I felt after hearing that alleviated an incredible amount of pressure and I felt like a huge burden had been lifted. 

Now, it should be said that down-ballot races like state and local school board races, often don't have the funds or the notable import to receive a full campaign team, but campaigning is the same no matter what race you are running. It's an equation - and having the people who know how to put the right pieces into the equation is a game changer. 

D.G. was right - you need a campaign manager. My recommendation is to ask everyone you know who has already held public office to hook you up with people they know. My first recommendation didn't work out, but another one did, and they have been my everything during this campaign.