Lately, KFTC has broadly encouraged our fellow community members who have been involved in organizing work to consider running for public office in 2010, or at some other point in the future.

One of the most common questions people are asking is “What would that take?”

Some general answers include time, dedication, an idea of how to make things better, a solid connection to your community, friends, some money (raised from your community), and a lot of self-motivation and drive.

It depends a lot on what office you’re interested in running for, but we’ve found that a good way to illustrate the amount of effort it would take to win an election is to talk about how many (or few) votes it has taken to win different offices in past similar elections. 

Here are some examples to give you an idea. We use the 2002 results in most cases because it was the last year we had U.S. Senate race in a non-presidential year, similiar to what we'll have next year.

State Representative Races, 2002 – 7,115 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, only 33 of the state House races were contested.  The 67 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 33, the winner received 7,115 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 3,956 votes.  

State Senate Races, 2002 – 16,503 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, 12 of the state Senate races were contested.  The 7 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 12, the winner received 16,503 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 13,162 votes.  

KY US House of Representatives Races, 2002 – 116,664 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, the winner received 116,664 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 87,776 votes.  

Bowling Green City Commission, 2008 - 8,579 votes.  This was a 7-way race in which the top 4 vote-getter become the city council.  The four winners got between 8,579 votes and 11,530 votes.  Turnout would be expected to be lower in 2010 without the draw of a presidential election.  

Lexington City Council Races (District), 2002 – 3,497 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election to the one we’re about to have in 2010, 8 of the 12 seats were contested.  The winner in those eight district races received 3,497 votes on average and winning Lexington district City Council members received vote counts as low as 1,666 votes.