MY RUN FOR OFFICE: AN OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME

Chart, Jan/Feb 2004 by Ennen, Kathy

I agreed to write this story now five years old because I believe that nurses should be voting in the House and Senate in Springfield and that maybe my story would encourage one of you reading to run for election. I also believe that it was my involved membership in the Illinois Nurses Association that provided me with many of the skills I brought to my campaign effort. As I repeatedly offered during my campaign, nursing is the ultimate public service and as a nurse I "fit" very well in the political arena [a.k.a. nursing unit or INA] advancing my constituents [a.k.a. patients or INA members] issues and needs!

It was an October day in 1997 when a call came from a staff person for the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Springfield. The request was to meet about the possibility of running for State Representative in the 103rd District. To say that I was surprised is an understatement. Many phone calls and meetings between myself and the Speaker of the House, his staff, local party leaders, my family, and friends occurred over the course of the next three weeks. After much discussion, debate, and analysis of the impact of both the campaign and election on the family and personal finances, the decision to run was made and my work for the next year was set.

My first job as a potential candidate was to get my name on the ballot. Candidates must meet criteria set forth in state law regarding age, citizenship and residency, lack of felony convictions, disclosure of financial and other forms of potential conflicts of interests, and obtaining the required number of signatures on petitions. The collection of registered voter signatures on petitions is a time intensive activity of knocking on doors all over the District and carrying petitions everywhere you go. Many volunteers came to my aid as we collected the required 390 signatures five times over. The notarized petitions and all required paperwork were filed in Springfield on the designated December day. During the first week of January a press conference was held on Sunday afternoon [a day when it is easy to get the press to attend] where my intention to seek election was formally announced. The lead story that evening on our local news program was "local nurse announces intent to seek House seat."

Articulating my qualifications for the position of State Representative and the details of my platform issues - developing a solid case for my candidacy was the next step. My nursing education, 28 years of work experience, and active INA membership made my case as a viable candidate a relatively easy one. It will not surprise any of you that my most important campaign issue was the provision of health care for the uninsured and underinsured in Illinois and the correction of obstructions surrounding access to health care for our area's most vulnerable, our elderly and our children. Other issues important to me included public education funding, childcare, long-term care, ending discrimination against gays and lesbians, small farm protections, protecting and promoting the nursing profession and ethical issues involving political campaigns. Candidates must speak every day in front of small and large audiences and the press, articulating issues and their solutions. It was imperative that I feel comfortable doing that so my critical issues were in fact those issues that I knew a lot about and felt a deep passion for resolving. They were the issues that connected my nursing experience and public service to the office I was seeking creating the necessary network and coalitions of other interest groups in support of my candidacy.

The early time in the campaign was spent putting my team together. It started with meeting the party leadership in the 103rd District and spending time talking with them, assessing the District and its needs and where my pockets of support were to be found and nurtured. Talking with current and former elected officials, other declared candidates, and local activists was critical in creating my campaign team. Experience in a campaign was an important consideration for the position of campaign manager and for the other six members I looked for enthusiasm, energy, certain skills, and a sense of humor. The campaign is a long, sometimes tortuous period of time and these qualities help everyone not just survive, but thrive. My team, "The Magnificent Seven", will attest to this!

My campaign manager and I created the campaign's calendar and used this tool to divide the stages and activities of my campaign into manageable pieces. Carefully considered goals, priorities and specific critical events such as the primary election guided our campaign calendar's phases. My calendar was outlined for the long haul of January through Election Day and then broken down into months, weeks, and days with daily revisions almost routine. It allowed for timely and cost effective use of all our human and financial resources and helped assure that I was where I was supposed to be on any given day.