Get Out the Vote

Last winter, Brett told us that he was thinking about running for Bloomington's County Council.  He knew that it would be a long shot for him to win, but he wanted to give voter's a choice.  We thought that it was a great idea and encouraged him to ask his friends in the Republican party what they thought.  Everyone was very encouraging, so Brett signed up before the February deadline.  

There wasn't much for him to do in the spring, except began the research process for what he needed to do to campaign and what his platform would be.  In June, the leaders of the Republican party encouraged Brett to either drop out of the race or commit to a strong campaign season.  Their rationale was that it would look bad on the local Republican party if he was the only one running in Monroe County and didn't put in much effort or take it seriously.  Brett decided to go all in and soon he was ready to get out the Republican vote.

Once Brett made the decision to put in a strong campaign, he first contacted a printing company to get help with fliers that he could use when he was out door knocking.  He then lined up several fellow Republicans to help him campaign at various times throughout the week during the months of September and October.  He also set up a bank account for any campaign funds that he received and even ordered magnetic signs for his car.  

Brett felt very good about his effort throughout the fall.  He got a lot of steps in and knocked on over 2500 doors.  Some were very interested in what Brett had to say, others, not so much.  Either way he remained positive.  As November neared he ordered yard signs and prepared a robo text for the weekend before the election.  Brett had gone above and beyond what was asked by him by the Monroe County Republican party and we were extremely proud of him.

Brett was up before 5 a.m. on the day of the election, so that he could set up near the polls.  He spent the entire day there, greeting voters and discussing politics with those of both party.  Local Republican leaders hosted a watch party for him at Big Woods, so that they could hear the results together.  We weren't surprised to get Brett's text letting us know that he had lost.  Monroe County is dominated by the Democratic Party.  We knew that it would be a tall order to win a seat for even the most seasoned politician.  

We were disappointed for Brett, but definitely not in his effort.  He knew that it was a long shot to win, but had hoped to at least get 30% of the vote.  Even though Brett was well below that number, he remained ever positive.  He gave me a long list of everything that he had learned during the campaign that would help him in the future.  He also felt very good about the support that he received from the Republican leaders in Monroe County.  I was very happy for him and enjoyed being a small part of it.  I loved even more that the loss had not killed his political spirit.  Before he hung up with me, Brett was already talking about what seat he thought he'd run for next.