Is running for office and political activism right for you?
By Aimee Robertson-West—
MUNCIE, Ind.—Candidates of the Future forum returns for a third iteration on Saturday, November 13th at the Innovation Connector. Participation is free and ideal for anyone who is interested in running for political office someday, wants to become active in their party, or wants to learn how to engage in local political or policy activism efforts.
Registration is required and space is limited so please register today.
Candidates of the Future began in 2017 as a civic engagement coalition and steering committee of three individuals, Dr. Chip Taylor, Mitch Isaacs, and Aimee Robertson-West. It has since grown to include a wide variety of partners and ballot-access party leaders, including this year’s new partners Indiana Democratic Party’s Annette Craycraft and the Delaware County Republican Women’s Club’s Roza Selvey.
Since its inception, the series has provided a bipartisan civic education platform which lays out what it takes to run for office and adapted in 2019 to convene a summit for government transparency. In the face of the pandemic last year, our committee coordinated the only bipartisan local, state, and federal candidate forums series in Delaware County in 2020. We have convened again in 2021 in the spirit of preserving community civic engagement and civil discourse and are offering a third iteration of Candidates of the Future.
This year’s forum is facilitated by the political science and academic experts of Bowen Center for Public Affairs, Ball State University and sponsored by: (in alphabetical order) the Delaware County Republican Women’s Club, Indiana Democratic Party, Indiana Michigan Power, and Shafer Leadership Academy.
Participants will walk away with a better understanding of:
- Whether running for office is right for them
- How to engage with local party leaders
- The importance of elected roles like precinct committee chair and state delegate
- How to advance the policy issues which are important to them
- How to pursue opportunities to serve on local government boards
- The obstacles and opportunities for women in political leadership roles
- How to run and serve on campaigns
Through the Bowen Center of Public Affairs, Dr. Taylor has reached out to include all ballot access county and district chairs representing the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties the last 4 years, and while some party leaders or candidates have chosen not to respond or participate, those participating this year, and in years’ past, have been responsive and enthusiastic.
Candidates of the Future also affords participants and panelists the opportunities to discuss differences and common ground, amid multiple and worsening discourse breakdowns through-out the duration of the pandemic, which have made the work of real understanding and acknowledging our differences in a constructive way even more difficult. The pandemic has forced us to retreat behind our computer screens and phones into private and well-constructed digital worlds, but when it comes to community-building, problem-solving, and moving forward, these things do not work. Our Candidates of the Future partners, panelists and participants are helping to bridge that gap.
“With the help of our panelists, we have been successful at bringing together people of diverse political affiliations and interests for a civil discussion about how to get off the sidelines and onto the playing field. The willingness of participants and panelists to put aside policy differences for the day and focus on the process of engagement has been instrumental in that success.” —Dr. Chip Taylor, Political Science Professor, Bowen Center for Public Affairs, Ball State University
The way it works is a mystery to many and the keys to the “kingdom” seem to be hidden among the few, which is why Candidates of the Future is making a deliberate effort to bring folks together to understand politics and policy by learning about how the system works directly from active elected officials, party leaders, and political activists.
Civic and local government curricula are not among Indiana’s Social Studies’ state K-12 standards so having a full frame of reference when making informed decisions at the ballot box (or when considering the possibility that every day citizens can and do run for office) can be a challenge for Hoosiers, which makes intentional civic engagement efforts like Candidates of the Future important.
How does it all work?
Elected officials, from internal party positions like precinct committee chairs to outward facing council, executive, and higher office holders, determine the trajectory of their parties, for better or worse, and influence both the quality and variety of candidates who go up for election and the quality of our lives in our community, sometimes for years after their terms. Their votes determine funding for projects, appointments to municipal boards, and which ordinances and bills advance. They determine our local government’s capacity to address economic and social problems and our community’s ability to retain or attract talent and development. They are accountable to the public through quality of life, and other economic and social metrics and to their constituencies who decide if they stay or go, at the ballot box.
According to a publication from Shafer Leadership Academy, two past Candidates of the Future participants Roza Selvey (R) and Jeff Robinson (D)decided that serving in office was something they wanted to do after attending our first candidates’ series in 2017. They now hold positions within their parties and serve on the City Council. Selvey is Muncie’s first female immigrant to serve on Muncie’s City Council and advocates for more diversity and female leadership within her own local party. Robinson now represents Muncie’s District 2 and is the president of the City Council. Robinson and Deputy Mayor Richard Ivy will be educating participants on the roles of functions of government boards.
What is a precinct committee chair and state delegate?
Other past Candidate of the Future participants have run for office and/or earned internal positions like precinct committee chairperson (PCPs) or state delegate within their respective parties. Citizens are often unaware of these vital roles though they are highly attainable and usually the first step in becoming involved in politics. They determine the overall health, ethics, transparency and direction of local and state political parties, vote on party leadership and central committees, champion voter access, and help coordinate elections in their precincts. When a candidate and/or elected official step down after a primary win or if an elected official steps down from serving in office, local PCPs appoint their replacements. State delegates vote on statewide leadership, state-level primary candidacy, and determine internal processes and policies. Precinct committee persons serve a four-year term, state delegates serve for two, and both go up for election soon, in May 2022.
In short, if citizens are unhappy with the direction of their political party, reform begins with getting involved as a PCP or state delegate. Both are good starting points for individuals to be the change they wish to see in our community. Learn more about these roles in the ‘Issue Advocacy’ panel.
Women in Political Leadership
One new element to Candidates of the Future is the addition of a women in political leadership discussion. According to the Indiana Commission for Women, women in total, make up just 21% of Indiana’s General Assembly and hold only 17% of seats in United State Congress. One concrete example of an institutional barrier in the way of normalizing women’s political leadership is in the masculine language used to describe political positions in Indiana. Indiana’s official 2022 state candidacy form to run for Precinct Committee Chair is titled “Declaration of Candidacy for Precinct Committeeman or State Convention Delegate”.Indiana’s formal and official candidate and election forms also represent a County Party Chair as a “chairman” in all current state filing documents. Delaware County Democratic party chair, Ana Quirk Hunter is female, as are both Indiana’s 6th District Chairs, Republican, Misty Hollis and Democrat, Annette Craycraft.
A full list of panels and panelists, included below:
Candidates of the Future Series III Itinerary
9am Welcome and light breakfast
9:20-10:30 am Running for Office Panel: Ali Brown (D) Indianapolis City Council, Jennifer Culp (R?), Anderson City Council
10:40-11:50 am Engaging with the Local Party Panel: Ana Hunter, Chair, Delaware County Democratic Party and Steve Justus, Chair, Adams County Republican Party
Noon Lunch
12:15-12:30pm SLA Public Leadership Program Presentation, Richard Ivy and Jeff Robinson
12:30-1:30pm Issue Advocacy Panel, Judi Calhoun, Republican Women’s Club, Aimee West,Women’s March, Dr. Sarah Vitale, Muncie Resists, New Democratic Coalition
1:30-2:25pm Women in Political Leadership Panel: Cherrish Pryor, Hoosier Women Forward, Kelli Heuer, Lugar Series
2:35-3:45pm Engaging with Campaigns Panel: Annette Craycraft (D) 6th District Chair, Indiana Democratic Party, Pete Seat (R), Indiana State Treasurer Candidate, Indiana Republican Party
Candidates of the Future, Series III on Facebook
Register today at: Candidates of The Future 2021 (wufoo.com)
Aimee Robertson-West is a Muncie native and is one of the founding organizers of Candidates of the Future. She is a non-profit executive working in the field of public education philanthropy, and more recently has served in civic engagement, community planning and cancer care provider roles. She is a writer, former public educator, state delegate, and child, women’s, victims’ and human rights activist in the midwest.
