Written by Amanda Muldoon, Indiana Circle Leader and State Leadership Council Member.
Soon after starting the Fort Wayne Policy Circle in 2017 I soon realized each of us has an opportunity to make an impact in our communities through public service.
I approached public life from behind the scenes and began my journey by volunteering on the management side of campaigns. Asked many times if I ever considered running myself, I always responded “No, I don’t have the skin for it.”
Then I received a notice from the county GOP that a member of the Township Advisory Board passed away and a caucus will be held to elect a new board member to finish the term. As a Precinct Committeeperson in that township, I was one of only 20 people eligible to cast a vote. I was also able to declare my candidacy for the position. For a few reasons, I felt called to throw my hat in the ring for the first time.
First, township government has always appealed to me. It is the closest level of government to the people and needs to be accessible and responsive to the residents. Second, this was an open seat. I have no desire to unseat someone or challenge a member of my own party in a primary election. Finally, since it was a caucus election, there were only 19 voters to reach and three weeks to do it. Short and sweet! This seemed like the perfect opportunity to cut my candidate teeth.
Two other candidates already joined the race, both much older men experienced with township government. I almost let it discourage me, but I have prepared myself for public service and decided I owe it to myself and my community to offer my talents to the township board. Why not? I am a strategic leader, connected in the community, and a darn hard worker to boot.
They say that women need to be asked to run. No one asked me. Instead, I reached out to a political connection for advice. He was supportive and connected me with a graphic designer to create campaign material. He speculated the other candidates would not have material and creating a professional image would go a long way in making a first impression with the voters. He was right. Plus, the campaign graphics that really boosted my confidence. It looked sleek and modern, and seeing it for the first time made me feel like a legitimate political candidate.
Over the next few weeks, I made phone calls, sent emails and letters, and knocked on doors until I connected with nearly all the voters. The campaign mailers shared a lot of information about me, so I approached conversations by asking thoughtful questions about their involvement in the township. They talked, I listened.
I built trust with the voters. Most were honest about who they were voting for, and it wasn’t me. In a small caucus like this, it is pretty easy to analyze the numbers needed to win. Who are the candidates? Who are the voters? Who are they voting for? And most important, if I’m not their first choice on the ballot, will I be their second?
It takes 50% plus 1 of the votes to win, but if there are more than two candidates, that doesn’t always happen in the first vote. Without a first-round win, typically the candidate that received the lowest number of votes is eliminated and there is another round of votes between the remaining candidates. Repeat until someone wins.
It became clear that another candidate was likely to win, and I started to feel a twinge of guilt for continuing to campaign. Like I was making the election all about me and not about what is best for the township. I considered conceding but decided against it. People deserve options and competition only make the candidates work harder. If someone runs unopposed, the voters do not have the same opportunity to voice their opinion on township matters. Ultimately the township benefits from more candidates in the race.
Only 15 of the 20 voters were present to vote at the caucus. I knew I had 4 votes locked up, but to my surprise I received 5 votes in the first round. The favored candidate received 10 and the other received none at all. In a caucus, there are often alliances between candidates, and they may direct their voters to vote for another candidate so one of them is sure to win. My assumption is that the candidate without any votes realized it was not possible for him to win and asked his voters to cast their vote for the other candidate.
After the election, the winning candidate told me I have his full support should I campaign in the future, and members of the township board asked that I stay involved. Also, several of the voters hold elected positions, including two city councilmen, a county councilman, and the Vice Chair of the county GOP. It was worth running the race just to build deeper relationships within the city and county government.
