In light of the current political turmoil and contested election, some readers may be thinking of throwing their hat in the ring for elected office. I would like to share my experience of my candidacy for U.S. Congress for the 4th District of Pennsylvania in 2012. As you may recall this was the general election where Barack Obama was elected president and the Tea Party was quite active.
I’ve earned a Bachelor’s Degree in History and have always been interested in the political process. Back in the 1990s I served on the executive committee of the Political Action Committee (PAC) where I was employed. The committee was responsible for doling out funds to candidates who supposedly were pro-business. The company was located in Maryland, so you can take that last comment with a grain of salt. Turns out most of the money went to incumbents of the Democratic persuasion so that our lobbyists could gain access to said officeholders. After a couple of years, I was shuffled off of the committee, no doubt due to my negative voting record on allocating funds.
Fast forward to 2012. In 2001 I had moved from the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Maryland to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The current Congressman, Republican Todd Platts had announced he was not seeking reelection. He was instead seeking a judgeship on the York County Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. That is typical for career politicians. The primary election featured six Republicans and four Democrats seeking the nomination in their respective parties. Being relatively new to the area and not having any real contacts in the political arena, I knew the primary was a waste of time so I set my sights on the general election.
I had no illusion about winning, but I wanted an opportunity to present an alternative to Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. An open seat seemed like the best opportunity. I went online to the Pennsylvania Government web site to scope out the details. I discovered that I could run as a third-party candidate by acquiring the signatures of 1,000 registered voters in the district. I sent for the forms.Continue reading“I Survived Running for Office, by W.W.”