Breaking the Mold: What it Means to Be an Unconventional Political Candidate

When I was 8 years old my mother held an elected position in the tiny town I grew up in in North Central Idaho. One year for the local county fair my sister and I got roped into handing out pins and stickers for the local Democratic Party candidates. I was the shy kid who didn't want to start a conversation with anybody, while my sister said "Hi" and gave stickers to every person we passed. Over the years I have gotten over my shyness, but I certainly don't think of myself as the outgoing, overly confident public speaker that most people think of when they hear the word "politician." But here I am decades later running for office to represent 26,000 constituents in the statehouse, most of which do not share my declared political affiliation.

Politics was not a vocation that I considered when planning my higher education as a teenager. I don't know of any politicians with a degree in clothing, textiles and design, but as they say there is a first time for everything. I run my own business, which is profitable, but it is never going to make me a billionaire, so hard work has always been part of my life.

While I understand the need for money in a political campaign, I have trouble with the idea of spending $50,000-100,000 to win an election to be hired for a job that only pays $25,000/year. Even more than that, I don't understand the need to spend that kind of money as the incumbent in an uncontested race, which has been the norm for the local Republican candidates for the last several elections.

As it turns out I am not incredibly effective as a fundraiser, nor am I independently wealthy, so funding even a low-budget campaign is going to take a lot of work. Maybe I should consider bake sales... that's what they tell the schools to do.

Probably the biggest difference between me and the majority of the politicians currently in the Idaho statehouse is that I honestly want to know what the people of Idaho want from their government. In the past several years I have seen bill after bill that does nothing to help the everyday Idahoan with their daily life become law.