WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2022 AT 5PM. VENTNOR LIBRARY, 6500 ATLANTIC AVENUE, VENTNOR, NJ. (THIS IS SECOND SEMINAR. FIRST SESSION WAS HELD AT GALLOWAY LIBRARY ON OCT 14. CONTACT US FOR OUTLINE OF THAT SEMINAR).
- TIMELINE FOR NEXT YEAR’S ELECTIONS ON NOVEMBER 7, 2023: STATEWIDE ELECTIONS WILL FILL ALL 40 SEATS OF NJ STATE SENATE AND ALL 80 SEATS OF NJ ASSEMBLY AS WELL AS CHOOSE COUNTY AND LOCAL OFFICIALS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS. SERIOUS CANDIDATES ARE ALREADY CAMPAIGNING.
- November-December, 2022: Club meetings/Christmas Parties
- January-February, 2023: Political Party Local Club Meetings
- March, 2023: Political Party Convention
- April 1, 2023*: File Nominating Petitions. File Choice of Slogan & Bracketing Requests with other candidates *Approximate date
- June 8, 2023: Primary Election
- July 24, 2023: File School Board Election Petitions
- November 7, 2023: Election Day
RN
Above Image: Never be a “Write-In” Candidate. Charles Haberkorn will probably be elected to the two year unexpired term on the Somers Point School Board. No other candidates are on the ballot or campaigning. However, Haberkorn could have been on the ballot and unopposed like the three candidates for the full three year term had he submitted a petition signed by himself and nine other people on or before July 25.
2. MAKE LIST OF EVERYONE YOU EXPECT TO HELP YOU:
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- Who will make financial contributions? Who will help you write and send out letters and postcards, put up signs, set up coffee klatches at homes and high rises?
- Family
- Friends
- Old Classmates
- Your Union
- Members of your church, synagogue, sports, social, or fraternal clubs
- Business customers, clients, suppliers.
- Check “pay to play” laws before asking for support from employees or contractors of the government or public school that would be controlled by the office you are seeking.
- Who will make financial contributions? Who will help you write and send out letters and postcards, put up signs, set up coffee klatches at homes and high rises?
3. REACH OUT TO THE LEADERS OF YOUR POLITICAL PARTY AND ASK FOR THEIR ADVICE, GUIDANCE, AND SUPPORT.
4. BE FAMILIAR NOW WITH THE FORMS, SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS AND DEADLINES FOR NOMINATING PETITIONS. AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.
a. Petition Requirements and Deadlines: New Jersey Department of State – Division of Elections – NJ Voter Information Portal
b. Campaign Finance Disclosure Requirement: NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission – Home (state.nj.us)
c. Use Petition Drive To Win Support And Recruit and Evaluate Campaign Workers and Volunteers.
5. Look Up Vote Results and Campaign Finance Reports For Previous Five Years.
a. Campaign Finance Disclosure Reports can be found at: . NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission – Home (state.nj.us)
b. Election results of previous elections are usually posted on the web site of your county clerk: Look up how many votes candidates got in previous elections in your district. Election results available from Division of Elections, or the Elections section of your County Clerk. Elections Results – Atlantic County Clerk’s Office
6. Party leaders cannot nominate you. All party nominations are made by secret ballot vote of voters identifying with your Party in a primary election on June 8, 2023. However, party leaders give their candidates big advantages in that election:
Above Image: Seth Grossman, like almost all “off the column” Republican and Democratic candidates in the 2021 NJ Primary Elections, was placed in “Ballot Siberia” and lost.
a. All candidates endorsed by Party leaders appear in same column or row on the ballot.
b. All of the candidates endorsed by Party leaders have the approved slogan “Regular Republican” or “Regular Democrat”.
c. Candidates endorsed by Party leaders have access to all political club meetings, membership lists, phone numbers, etc.
d. Candidates endorsed by party leaders usually get financial support from the regular party donors.
7. Although state law gives the Party Chairman power to award the “Party Column” or “Party Row” to the candidates he or she chooses, Democrats and Republicans in most counties use a “County Convention” held during March, several weeks before the petition filing deadline.
a. Discuss Details of the an Atlantic County Party Convention
8. Party leaders can usually get their preferred candidates win the nomination, but candidates usually need to win additional support to win the general election against the other party in November.
Above Image: Seth Grossman was a winner in the 2018 Republican because he bracketed with an unknown candidate for State Senator to build their own column. His running-mate Brian Goldberg lived in North Jersey, was completely unknown, did not campaign or spend any money. Yet he got 3,157 votes or 36.2% against multimillionaire establishment U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin.
9. If you plan to run as an “insurgent” in the Primary against the choice of Party leaders, you need to prepare for that now.
10. Decide as early as possible whether to run a mostly “retail” campaign or a mostly “wholesale” one. A candidate in a “retail campaign” spends most of hisor her time making personal contact with individual voters. A candidate in a “wholesale campaign” spends most of his or her time requesting financial contributions from donors and spending that money on professionals to run a media campaign. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.
11. Be careful when hiring campaign professionals.
It is much easier for a good secretary or office manager to learn political skills needed to run an effective political campaign, than for a mediocre or losing campaign manager to learn the business skills needed to run an effective political campaign. There is no “magic” to fundraising. You need to sell yourself to donors the way you sell yourself to voters.
12. BASICS ON TALKING TO REPORTERS:
13. BASICS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
14. FINDING THE RIGHT VENDORS AND CONSULTANTS FOR WHAT YOU AND YOUR INNER-CIRCLE CAN’T DO YOURSELVES.
IF YOU MISSED THE FIRST SEMINAR ON OCTOBER 14 AT THE GALLOWAY, NJ LIBRARY, HERE IS AN OUTLINE OF MATERIALS COVERED THEN:
OUTLINE NOTES FROM FIRST SESSION “THE BASICS” ON OCTOBER 14, 2022:
- Read 7 Habits of Highly Successful People
- Be Pro-Active
- Begin With End In Mind
- Put First Things First
- Think Win/Win
- Think First To Understand/Then Be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen The Saw.
- Goal is to get enough votes to either win, or make it clear you are likely to win your next election. Running a losing campaign “on principle” or to “make a statement” only hurts you and your cause.
3. Don’t be Ted Kennedy in 1980. Understand the office you are running for, and what you intend to accomplish if you hold that office. Be able to explain this in a few short sentences. Practice with friends and family.
4. Think through and write down three to five key issues that you want to define yourself, your campaign, and what you want to accomplish during your first term of office. Then test what others think of your position on those issues. If you are running for a larger district, spend money on a public opinion poll. Otherwise, do a “listening tour” with as many groups and individuals with diverse views as possible as a “poor man’s substitute” for a public opinion poll. When “taking the pulse”, also find out where voters get their information, so you know where to advertise.
5. Hardly anybody cares about your election except you and a handful of your friends. That’s where “Think Win/Win” and “Think First To Understand/Then Be Understood” come in.
6. Make sure you have the time and financial resources to hold the public office you are running for, and well as the work you need to do in the campaign. Talk to your family about the sacrifices you will all make.
7. Look up the election results and campaign finance reports for last 5 years for the district you are running in. Why the highest vote-getters are not always the strongest candidates.
Click Here For Link to NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC): NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission – Home (state.nj.us)
Click Here For Link To NJ Division of Elections: New Jersey Department of State – Division of Elections – NJ Voter Information Portal
Click Here For Link to Atlantic County Clerk Elections Division: Elections – Atlantic County Clerk’s Office
8. Be part of either the Republican or Democratic Party. Politics is a team sport. At this moment, there are only two teams in New Jersey and most of America. This is true even in “non-partisan” local and school board elections.
9. Attend all meetings and events of the local club of the Political Party you choose to join.
10 Always “work the room”. Exchange business cards or write down names and contact info of everyone you meet.
11. Volunteer to work on somebody else’s campaign and/or volunteer to be an election worker.
12. Know your deadlines and ballot requirements. Work back from election day. Time moves quickly, and you have a lot less time than you think you have. When are petitions due. How to form alliances and bracket with other like-minded candidates.
13. Last Minute Advice For Candidates Already Campaigning For November 8, 2022 Election:
a. Go through voter lists and identify voters who already support them. Urge them to get their friends and family members to get mail or messenger ballots to also vote.
b. School Board candidates running as a team, but not “bracketed” together on ballot. Print and distribute “palm cards” showing where all three candidates appear on ballot. Palm card should say “You may take this into the voting booth with you”. Last minute advertising for school board candidates should stress how to find candidates on ballot.
c. Be in compliance with ELEC Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws. If you receive any donations, you must open a separate campaign bank account, report it, and deposit all campaign donations into that account. All expenses should be paid by check.
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info@libertyandprosperity.com
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