Yes, You Can (Get Elected.)

By Renata Sos

As mayor of a small town in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve met countless elected officials—other mayors, city councilmembers, county supervisors—who have shared that, left to their own devices, they would never have run for office. They were recruited, cajoled, and even strong-armed by others.

Consider this a recruitment. As you contemplate the question of “what next,” please at least think about running for office in your town, your city, or your county.

“Why would I do that?” you understandably ask. If you have been intrigued by public service, but have put it off because of family, work, or other circumstances, now may be the time to make the move. While not without frustrations, it is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to serve your constituents and to work with others who are doing the same. If you enjoy problem solving, you get to do it in spades. If you are a policy or governance wonk, it’s a splurge and a treat. And if you want to contribute to the public good, you can and will make a difference at the local level.

Let me address some of the common deterrents to running for office:

1. I don’t have the right experience.

Actually, you probably do. Anyone who has been professionally successful likely possesses thekey ingredients to being an effective officeholder: listening skills, empathy, analytical ability,and facility with collaboration. That’s it. There is no rigid resume-building track that you must follow to be prepared and electable. To be suited to public office, you don’t need to start with an encyclopedic knowledge of municipal codes, state statutes, or federal regulations. You will pick that up quickly, so long as you are willing to listen (especially to the subject matter experts and those more experienced than you), to learn (and admit to what you don’t know), and to keep an open mind (rather than assuming you already know best).

2. I don’t have a thick skin.

You might not, but don’t let that get in the way. Granted, it’s no fun being impugned and smeared in social media (happily, nobody ever does it to your face). But a colleague once told me that if you don’t have enemies, you don’t have principles. And if you are doing your job ably and ethically, the trolls and haters who take pot shots at you from behind a keyboard are vastly outnumbered by the constituents who are grateful for and appreciative of your service. On top of that, local offices are often non-partisan, which spares you the gratuitous ugliness of party—led elections.

3. I’m not a self-promoter, and I don’t want to talk about myself in a campaign.

Amen. I was bored with myself not a month into my recent run for office. In all events, effective candidates don’t really talk about themselves; they talk about the problems that need to be solved, describe their general approach to solving them, and express optimism at being up to the task. Authentic candidates demonstrate during the campaign the very attributes that will make them effective elected officials: listening skills, empathy, analytical ability, and facility with collaboration (see above).

During a recent visit to a local elementary school, a fourth grader said to me: “I didn’t know that a girl could be mayor.” That innocent comment was astonishing at so many levels, and I try to unpack it every day. Suffice it to say that for me it underscored the need for more wise, compassionate, and courageous women in office at all levels. If we are out there and visible to the generations of girls and young women (and boys and young men) behind us, they see it and they know women can be it. We can be the norm, not the exception.

I will always be grateful to those who planted in my head the idea of entering local politics. I would be grateful if you considered it, too.

Renata Sos is Mayor of Moraga, California