Advice Needed: Winning Strategies For Local Campaign

[HFishbine]

Okay all you brainiacs and political Svengalies, help me get a good guy elected to city council. Yeah, yeah, I know it's not as important as the presidency or a conregessional race, but on the other hand, your suggestions have a good chance of being applied.

POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
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Southern city of about 250,000. City council of 9, with 3 elected at-large. Only one sitting incumbent unseated in past decade and he was touched by impropriety. Slight democratic edge in voter registration, but not progressive politically. Traditional progressive issues such as labor and environment get little traction. Conformity almost always edges out new-thinking. Also, the race is non-partisan.

My candidate just cleared the primary, finishing fifth out of eight, with 10% of the vote -- enough to move with the top six to the general election. Each of the three incumbents finished in the top three, the weakest with 19% of the vote. Voter turnout was 21%.

THE CANDIDATE
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Modestly funded -- but with great ideas. However, local media coverage is scant and tends to promote the status quo at the expense of deatailed coverage of the issues. Local paper has already endorssed the three incumbents. Incumbents run on name recognition. Yard signs and print ads do little more than promote their names, but that's about the extent of their campaigning.

My candidate has good, solid ideas:

- Sunshine ordinance to reveal council peoples' real estate holdings and business ties.
- Creation of export assistance office to help suffering local business tap into foreign markets.
- Tax abatements for apartment owners who contribute to a "renter's downpayment assistance fund" to help renters save for a downpayment for a house if it purchased in the city.
- Amendment to anti-discrimination ordinance (which governs employment, lodging, and housing) to include sexual preference.
- Standards applied to business recruitment tax incentives to assure that companies receiving tax breaks meet minimum environmental, wage and benefit criteria.

He also has good "community bona fides."

- PTA president for four years.
- Serves on Parks and Recreation commission.
- Past president of his neighborhood association
- Small business owner
- Family man
- Honest, articulate, fair, open-minded.

on edit: running at-large.

THE CHALLENGE
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The candidate beats the others on ideas, but ideas are not the focus of these campaigns. Without much more money than we are likely to procure, we cannot shape the debate. But, if we try to play in the arena of name-recognition and experience, we come up short.

If you were managing this campaign, what strategy would you impliment to defeat an incumbent?

[eyesroll]

1. How big is your district?

Or is this the at-large seat?

Shoe leather works wonders in city races (or so I'm told). If the area is manageable, try door-to-door.

Good luck to your guy!

[HFishbine]

2. At-large

about 110 square miles. Could focus on precints with traditionally heavy turnout though, or would it be wiser to try to get out voters in typically low-turnout precints?

[John_H]

3. Schools, schools, schools

Tout your PTA experience, get the state teachers union to endorse you, and the put "teacher approved" on all your signs.

Also hit the small business thing hard--put that in your literature. .

You might want to think of a city sponsored small business initiative to increase small business investment in base areas--property tax free zones, preferred city contracts if a business is located in an area that needs investment, or even a SBA style loan program.

I like the sunshine ordinance, especially if there have been some well publicized issues.

Name recognition: Signs, door hangings in dem areas (if you can afford them) mailings, and door to door campaigning. If the state or local party are doing phone banks, make sure your name gets mentioned when they call folks in your city.
Even though the race is non partisan, turnout will be key. Remember--there ain't no such thing as a nonpartisan race. Work with the local groups to get out your vote on election day--work with chuches, unions, and , help them get their people out to vote--start by having your friends provide their members with transportation on election day, even a breakfast at the union hall/church/etc. can be helpful.

[HFishbine]

4. Great ideas!

Very helpful, John. Thanks.

Anybody else?

[ClassWarrior]

5. Take a cue from...

...my fellow Wisconsinite, Russ Feingold. You have to do something kind of outrageous, something just wacky enough that the local media folk won't be able to resist. And imbedded in the middle of the spectacle has to be your strongest message.

During his first run, Russ painted a list of - I don't remember how many, maybe 7 - campaign promises across the big double garage door of his ranch home, perfectly visible from his suburban street. How could the cameras resist THAT?? Here was this loony also-ran candidate going against the Dem party favorite and a GOP incumbent irking his neighbors with a self-vandalized garage... Let's put it on the news!!

Well guess what? That was the beginning of the end for the other guys. Russ came from behind to take the whole shebang, and he's been one of our brightest Democratic lights ever since.

If you want me to help you brainstorm some ideas, let me know.

And good luck to your friend.

[Redneck Socialist]

6. I have some ideas, but

it is late and Sox are close to beating the yankees. (Yeah, yeah, I know but it is important to me.) I will post tomorrow so check back. btw I have worked on campaigns up and down the ticket.