When Lacey Cotter Rzeszowski, a New Jersey mother of three, ran for public office, she didn’t have deep pockets or a Rolodex full of wealthy political donors.
“The first challenge is to get your name out there, and that costs money,” says Cotter Rzeszowski, 43, who ran as a Democrat for the New Jersey Legislature in 2017.
To leap those hurdles, Cotter Rzeszowski had to fundraise enthusiastically, network aggressively and ask friends for help. Earning lots of small donations was more important than having a handful of large donations, she says. “If you’re coming from a situation where you don’t have friends with deep pockets, it’s not always about that depth of pockets but how large that network is,” says Cotter Rzeszowski, who lives in Summit, New Jersey.
Throughout her campaign, Cotter Rzeszowski learned how to ask for money, score support from politically active organizations and make sure campaign donations were earmarked for worthy expenses. At home, her husband supported the family financially. “The lifestyle component had been determined before deciding to run the race — that it was something we could manage personally,” she says.
Ultimately, Cotter Rzeszowski narrowly lost her race against the incumbent minority whip, but she’s leveraged her experience into a business called Bullhorn Strategy, which works on branding, messaging and email fundraising for midsize and small campaigns.
[Read: Boycotts, Petitions and Campaigns: How Consumers Can Flex Their Financial Power.]
The barriers low- and middle-income candidates face when running for office have recently gained national attention, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez making headlines for having just $7,000 in her savings account and struggling to afford an apartment in the pricey District of Columbia.
Despite some success stories, it seems like politics — especially national politics — are reserved for the rich. When the 115th Congress began, the median minimum net worth of its members was $511,000, according to February 2018 data from Roll Call. That’s five times the median net worth of an American household, according to numbers from the Federal Reserve. (The publication is working on numbers for the 116th Congress, which was recently sworn in.)
“We know it’s easier, obviously, to run for office if you’re very wealthy or at least you have access to resources,” says Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “And it’s all about social capital, so if you’re in a professional network or have lots of access to people with money, it’s generally easier for you.”
So how can middle-income or low-income citizens run for public office? How can they launch a campaign without a well-lined purse or a bevy of rich friends? The road may be different than it is for wealthy, self-funded individuals, but it’s not insurmountable. Here’s how to run for office when you’re not rich.
[See: Dear Younger Me: 12 Financial Truths We Wish We Knew Earlier.]
Do your homework. This is good advice for any wannabe politician, but it holds especially true if you don’t have limitless money to burn: Don’t blindly enter a political race without exploring how much money you’ll need, important issues you’ll face and potential competition.
“Do your research,” Sinzdak says. “When are seats going to be up? Who would you be primarying, if anybody? Is it an open seat or not? Then you can figure out, based on your life, what makes most sense for you.”
Get involved in the political scene, even before you launch your campaign. If you’re running on a certain issue, show up to local meetings about that topic. Volunteer with politically active groups. Make your voice and opinion heard on important political debates.
Go local. While you may get fired up by national politics, don’t forget that there are myriad local and statewide political positions where you can make a major impact, work close to home, keep your full-time job and enter a likely more pocketbook-friendly political race.
Start fundraising. Asking people for money isn’t fun, but it’s one of the most crucial parts of launching a political campaign, especially if you can’t self-fund, experts say.
While the strategies for fundraising are complex, it helps if you have a knack for sales, experts say. That’s what helped Bryce Reeves, 52, a Republican state legislator from Virginia, make dozens of daily phone calls when he campaigned in 2011. His experience owning a State Farm insurance office helped him understand how to not take rejection personally. “My salesman skills helped,” says Reeves, who also notes that his experience as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger helped prepare him for the challenges of campaigning.
[Read: Fight Back: How to Combat Racial Wealth Inequality.]
Tap your network. You may not have a network of millionaire golfing buddies, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a valuable community to tap for money, support and votes.
Being an active member of a professional organization, union, church, synagogue, veterans association or other group can help you develop connections and rally support. You may also find assistance from local partisan groups, which “can point you in the direction of getting to know who the donors are in a community,” says David Avella, chairman for GOPAC, a group that helps prepare Republican candidates to run for office.
If money is short, ask yourself what other help you can use. “How are you going to be smart about the resources you have, which are time, money and people?” says Erin Vilardi, founder and CEO of VoteRunLead, a national nonpartisan organization that trains women to run for office and win. “If someone has more money than you, then figure out how to turn up your time and your people.”
Work with your employer. For people who work full time, balancing campaigning with a job is destined to be a challenge. “You definitely should let your boss know (that you’re running for office),” Sinzdak says. If you can get an extra-long lunch to make phone calls or score a few days off to do canvassing and organizing, it can be immensely helpful. Having your boss on board can also help if you win a political post that requires you to travel frequently or take days off for legislative sessions.
Be yourself. If you’re concerned about the financial burden of buying pricey suits, getting a fresh hairstyle and generally looking like a political candidate, stop fretting. We live in a political era of authenticity, experts say. “There’s no reason to buy an entire new wardrobe because you’ve decided to run for office,” Avella says. It’s better to dress like yourself — as long as it’s a clean, polished version of yourself, experts say.
Remember, too, that you can use your financial struggles and modest background as a powerful tool on the campaign trail. In fact, voters may be able to relate to your story. Says Vilardi: “If we had more people in government who had diverse economic backgrounds, who came from poor communities, who understand and were able to speak at a personal level about living paycheck to paycheck, we’d reach better policy that speaks to a larger number of people.”
More from U.S. News
12 Useless Fees Draining Your Budget
8 Big Budgeting Blunders — and How to Fix Them
10 Big Ways to Boost Your Budget — Without Skimping on Your Daily Latte
How to Run for Office if You’re Not Rich originally appeared on usnews.com
