My 2009 City Council Campaign Story

In March of 2009, I met up with the local chapter of the Libertarian Party to find out how to go about running for City Council. A teacher with no political experience, I honestly didn't expect to win this election, but hoped to use the candidacy as a platform to raise issues and criticize major candidates in a way that might not have been heard if I had not been a candidate.

I collected several thousand dollars. Petitioning was a killer. It required approximately 2000 signatures. I collected 2600, with the help of about 10 people, most of whom I had to pay. I live in an area where political involvement is low, and many people were really suspicious about what I was asking them to sign. Because City Council works with by districts (New York City contains 51 of them, each adjusted to contain about 157,000 residents), no matter where I went, such as a mall or subway, a large portion of the people I approached would not be residents of the district where I was running, and their signatures were not valid. Add to that the fact that the census numbers contain minors, aliens, and nonregistered citizens, so I had no idea whether or not people I approached were even qualified to sign. Given the number required, going house-to-house was not practical.

I produced 5000 glossy flyers and distributed several hundred before petitioning. I sent students around door-to-door (for pay) before the summer simply telling people about my campaign and collecting email addresses. I emailed several hundred people each time I made a video, and sent several reminders and requests for help over the past few months. Needless to say, many of the email addresses were fake or illegible, and I only got a handful of responses.

I also spoke at a civic group, a PTA meeting, and a Libertarian rally. I could have attended more events, but I felt that it would not be a good use of time. Turnout was often so low that candidates outnumbered audience, and each appearance, plus preparation, often cost me several hours. Again, there was no telling whether audience members were even potential voters, since neither schools nor neighborhoods have any correspondence to political districts.

After creating the website, I had the first video produced by a fellow teacher and his class at the school where I work. Since summer vacation came on me too quickly, the other videos (I think at least 3 more) I produced with a hand held camera.

Then there was the NYC campaign finance program, in which I enrolled with the hope of qualifying for matching funds. It was an immense amount of papework, much of which I had to bring in by hand, to lower Manhattan. I made a few minor errors in my financial filing the first time, and my campaign (me) and treasurer were threatened with fines from the state. Each financial statement took hours to prepare and the campaign finance board always sent me an audit response with many issues, often requesting that I do something again. I never qualified for matching funds because the minimum threshhold was $5000 (from within my district), no more than $175 per person. The program did allow me to be profiled in the voter guide, which gets delivered to every house, and to appear in the 2 minute video.

I also received numerous questionnaires, most of which I completed. Some were from very left wing groups and some were from very right wing groups, so no matter what, I never believed I was giving entirely "correct" answers. Nevertheless I answered most of them with thorough answers, but no group ever approached me with questions or an endorsement.

I marched with the Brooklyn LP in the West Indian Day (Labor Day) Parade, Columbus Day Parade, and in a rally against a planned stadium project in Downtown Brooklyn which entails invoking eminent domain.

In the last 2 weeks of the campaign, I appeared in a webcast debate with the two other candidates, and hung several hundred posters around the district. Most posters lasted less than 2 days before disappearing. I also greeted people with two volunteers at a local supermarket for several hours, on several days. Again, despite being centrally located, there was no telling where people actually lived.

The response I got was quite positive. Many people pledged their vote with no hesitation. Some engaged in debate, and were eventually persuaded. Others were just dazzled by the fact that I was "the guy on the poster." Only two people the entire 6months told me that they liked the incumbent. The other two candidates apparently pledged not to do any posterering because 'posting' is apparently a big issue.

I studied the poll site list which was very complicated, because one poll site may serve multiple jurisdictions. There were 17 poll sites in the district, but 10 of them contained the lions' share of the election districts. I staffed all 10, some with 2 or 3 people. It was a pain, because I hired some people who had no cars, and I had to keep on replenishing their literature. I drove the entire circuit several times on Tuesday. My workers were aggressive, and stayed out 12 hours or more. I crossed paths with the incumbent several times, as he met with his workers (he had at least twice as many as me), and he was ALOT stricter an employer than I was.

In the end, I got just 1.3% of the vote, or 282 votes. The Democratic incumbent won 79% and the Republican 19%, despite apparently having been a no-show on election day.

This is what I think went wrong:
1.I probably directed alot of resources to people who were not residents, not citizens, or simply not voters.
2.In the beginning of the campaign I was too philosophical, and not down-to-earth enough
3.I talked about too many issues
4.The other candidates spoke about very narrow neighborhood issues, such as specific construction projects and bus lines, whereas my focus was more broad. The ideas I had could be applied citywide, and did not need to be specific to a certain district.
5.The aggressiveness of me and the Republican probably inspired the Democrat to be more active
6.I failed to identify the reliable voters
7.I underestimated people’s loyalty to a party
8.People realized that Libertarianism might require some independence, and they didn’t like it
9.The party name just isn’t recognizable enough,
10.I waited too long to be “negative,” or clearly state my criticisms of the Democrat


Still, I believe that running gave me a stage to raise ideas for a larger audience than I would not have had otherwise. I hope I inspired people to question their elected officials or even run for office themselves. My intention, going forward, is to continue to question and undermine oppressive authority on behalf of myself and others, in whatever capacity I can.