Visibility is Viability

Representative democracy is a bedrock American principle that, when fulfilled, guarantees every person a voice in this citizen government. When you have a diverse array of individuals making decisions about policy impacting families, you create a full view of the community and the needs of its people. Taken together, elected officials from different ideologies and backgrounds will generate more perspectives and ideas, which leads to greater learnings and discourse, whether it’s on a board, town council, or state legislature. New kinds of candidates are engaging in our politics, and they are winning. In this episode we will discuss candidacies from historically underrepresented groups. 

Learn more about Organizing to Win: The Art & Science of Running for Office - including free downloadable guides - by visiting OrganizingtoWin.com.

Transcript

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You're listening to the audio version of Jimmy Tickey's book Organizing to Win: The Art and Science of Running for Office. This book will teach you how to enter the political arena, manage a campaign, and run for office.

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Visibility is viability. Representative democracy is a bedrock American principle that, when fulfilled, guarantees every person a voice in this citizen government. When you have a diverse array of individuals making decisions about policy impacting families, you create a full view of the community and the needs of its people. Taken together, elected officials from different ideologies and backgrounds will generate more perspectives and ideas, which leads to greater learnings and discourse, whether it's on a board, town council, or state legislature. We see this in nearly every facet of life. You would not put the same kind of athlete in every position on the team, but rather would have an array of athletes with different strengths so that when taken together, the power is in the mix. Historically underrepresented. Given the time and resources it takes to run for office, it's not always a natural fit for a candidate to be someone juggling jobs, kids, and responsibilities, though that is who needs to be running for a fully representative government. We want everyone from every walk of life, and especially those who know the value of a hard-earned dollar. Diverse perspectives require everyone's voice, and we want every person to participate. It means varying thoughts, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, ages, races, ethnicities, LGBTQ community members, professions, small business owners, veterans, and people with a variety of abilities. We need more women in office and more young people from every zip code. For many, there is an intersectionality where candidates may have an identity reaching across communities. As you look to your own representation, you may see elected boards, commissions, and legislative bodies, as well as executive positions, don't always look like the people they represent. The facts could not be clearer. Women make up half of the population and outlive men, but only hold 32.9% of all state legislative seats. Among towns with a population over 30,000, only 26.8% have women mayors. Don't take my word for it, this is according to the Center of American Women in Politics. There is so much data on this topic, but let's take a moment to review that black Americans constitute 10% of state legislators, when they are about 15% of the national population, according to Pew Research Center. The Center for American Women in Politics reports that black women are 5.4% of all state legislators, noting most of those gains were in the last decade. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, less than 2% of elected officials nationwide are Latino, while they make up 18% of the population and are growing. Members of the LGBTQ community only make up 0.25, that's one-fourth of 1% of elected officials, as reported by the LGBTQ Victory Institute. According to Gallup, 9.3% of U.S. adults align themselves with the LGBTQ community, noting each younger generation is twice as likely as the previous generation to identify as LGBTQ, and with more than one in five generations Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, identify with this community. The number of people who identify as LGBTQ is growing, particularly among young people, and they need to engage in politics. That's why I formed one of the first caucuses of the Connecticut Democratic Party, the LGBTQ Plus Caucus, which is an organizing vehicle for more people to see themselves in the party and organizing around policy. In just the first few years, we had doubled our LGBTQ plus representation at the local and state levels in Connecticut. We use many of the strategies I'm going to share with you. That caucus became the blueprint for how communities could organize, and in the years since we formed many caucuses for groups adjacent to the party apparatus. For women, it's not a question of winning, but of running. Some candidates may look at the job description and think, I can do that. Women alternatively may look at the skills required and think, do I have what it takes to do this well? Will I be able to assemble a team to pull this off? We need to talk to women about getting involved, alleviating their concerns, and showing a path to win supported by a team. We need more women in office, and our own persistence in asking them to run is important as we continue to strive toward a truly representative government. One of the ways women prepare to run locally is by attending training sessions that may be available, so search for training opportunities in your area. I could go on, but these are all real statistics showing a pattern of communities, often impacted by legislation and executive action not involved in their government at a commensurate level. I hope you see the value in needing our government to represent people. For those who want to get involved but would make history as the first of an underrepresented group to hold the position, you may feel like you don't belong. Once again with that imposter syndrome. It's hard to think you belong when the very bodies you are hoping to enter do not look like you. You need to know that you not only belong, but you are needed in that exact space. When running for office, our member of voter said to me one day, you must not be home a lot for the wife. First, I was in my early twenties and marriage wasn't even on my radar. Ha, no wife for me, I would deadpan. Was it my job to come out to every single person I met? Should I have said, actually grab a chair, there's something I want to tell you. My age was clear by my apparent baby face, and because in American politics, your age is on every candidate profile, there's no escaping it. For members of the LGBTQ community, it may not be so apparent, and it's never a one-time occurrence. Being gay means you are always coming out in different spaces throughout life. For me, being gay was a part of my identity, and I bring my true self to everything I do, but I didn't lead with it because I wanted to talk about the work that needed to get done in town. You'd be the first. Having been elected to office in my early 20s, I was serving on boards and commissions with individuals three to four times my age, always in the political minority as well. At my first planning and zoning public hearing, I remember walking into our city auditorium to a stately mahogany table, with a name placard set out for each commissioner's seat, and adjacent to that was a small folding table, the kind you would set out at a backyard party and throw an ice bucket on. My name placard was on that folding table. Sure, it was a noticeable difference, but you cannot be bothered by such antics. It didn't matter what table they sat me at. Voters elected me, and I wanted to get to work. There are always challenges to running for office, but it's more pronounced if you are a barrier-breaking candidate. You need to assess if you have the financial security to take the time off from work to run, have the support from your family, and have the courage to go for it. Because your networks may not be as developed as other more established and well-connected candidates, you could face barriers to securing funding and political support. Given this, some candidates are apprehensive and will wait for the perfect time. Politics is fluid, and the dynamics of the environment can change in an instant, so don't wait for the perfect moment. Make your moment when you are ready to participate. With hard work, involvement in your community, and an assertive approach to your political party, you'll soon be on your way to running for office. You are deciding to run because you care about something and you want to do good in your community. As a candidate who may be the first, you will be ignored, underestimated, or sidelined. With your head down, just keep organizing. As others notice you are building an effort, some will try to discredit you because they realize you may be effective. Other times there will be an effort, whether intentional or not, to have you become the sole authority on your own background, in effect, marginalizing you as a token for the very community you are from, as if you can only speak for that community. Always bring your full identity with you and don't let anyone take you away from your purpose, your why. This way, you won't be sidelined, silenced, or subjected to tokenism. Being visible in your district is important as people meeting you shows viability, and suddenly what started as a different candidate becomes a true contender. I've seen a surge of young people entering the political arena, and when they run for office, they hear the words, well, if you run, you'd be the first. New kinds of candidates are engaging in our politics and they are winning. As a candidate from a historically underrepresented community, success does not mean that once you win, you close that door behind you, but rather you reach back and bring someone else along. Person by person, you can share your stories and help the next candidate, and their path may be more straightforward than yours. In our society, being the first to do something is revered, but I challenge you that the accomplishment is not being the first in making history.

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It's ensuring you are making progress and working to bring others into this arena so that you are not the last.com. All rights reserved. Copyright Organizing to Win LLC.