General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumswhat does it take to run for a congress seat? I know the age and where to live
but do you need to know the parliamentary procedures and all of that?
I am a school teacher. Government is my passion...
I think I would be a kick ass congresswoman
how would one start such a campaign?
brooklynite
(94,950 posts)What you need are: a message, money and early supporters.
I'd start out by contacting RUN FOR SOMETHING...
https://runforsomething.net
bottomofthehill
(8,364 posts)Name recognition
Money
Money
Ability to generate press
Money
Ability to get good ( positive) media coverage
Money
Ideas
Money
Convictions
Money
COURAGE
Money
Good campaign staff
Money
And more money.
Getting there is the hard part, once you are thereC the procedural part is the easy part. Once elected a bunch of people will tell you how smart and amazing you are, you will hear it enough times and start to believe it. Look at Louie Gohmert, Steve King, Kathy McMorris Rodgers, all empty suits.
Getting there is the hard part
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)If you have the patience, maybe get your name known by first running for a local office and take off from there. Wishing you success.
bottomofthehill
(8,364 posts)A favorite quote of Speaker Thomas P ONeill!
MineralMan
(146,350 posts)Read the Constitution enough times to understand and remember every word in it.
Congress follows Robert's rules of order more or less with regard to parliamentary procedure, but adds its own rules in each house of Congress. New representatives get training in those rules.
What is really required to run for Congress is money and name recognition. You need to be well-known in your own congressional district, and preferably have some experience in politics in that district. It's almost impossible for an unknown to run successfully. If you've been a Mayor, City Council member, or County Board member, that will help. If you're a prominent business person, that's OK, too.
I recommend running for and winning a local office first. Just jumping into a congressional race almost never works out well. What you learn in campaigning for local offices is pretty much essential if you hope to run for Congress. Being a serious participant in the local Democratic Party organization is also a very useful thing, since you will need party support.
If you don't already know what it takes to run for Congress, you're actually not ready to run, I would say.