Running for Elected Office

By Zane D. Smith

So you think you want to run for office. You have been mulling around the idea for a while and you like the concept of hundreds, if not thousands of adoring constituents contacting you, applauding your speeches, looking to you for direction and leadership to solve the community’s problems using your God given talents. However, before you take that plunge consider the following: Do I really want to run for office? What is involved in running a campaign for whatever office I am seeking? What impact would running for office have on my practice, my family, my ego?

As attorneys we are looked upon for advice, guidance and in some cases, leadership on numerous questions of law and society. It is no accident that most members of U.S. Congress are attorneys. It is also no accident that a majority of political persons in office, no matter what the office, tend to be attorneys. By our very nature and profession we are comfortable with the legislative process. We understand and respect the workings of government and we understand and admire the democratic system that we have. However, before you make the decision to run for office I would like to offer you some of the insights that I gained during my campaign.

As a candidate for Congress in the 10th District (north suburbs) Primary Election of 2006, I want to share with you some of the personal, professional and financial decisions that I considered before undertaking a run for elective office. One of the first issues that I had to face when I ran for office was sitting down with my family, and in particular my wife to inform her of my desire to run for office. While I had her full support and endorsement on the idea of running for elected office, her enthusiasm waned when I informed her that if I was successful my income would be reduced significantly and that I would be in Washington, D.C. Monday through Friday for approximately 7 to 8 months each year. While still gallantly supporting me she did begin asking a number of questions that you will probably hear for your family. One question was, “Why would you want to run for office?” In my case, I have always nibbled around the edges of a major elected office in one form or another. For example, I have been re-elected Winnetka Park District Commissioner three times. While it is an elected office both the time commitment and the financial costs of that office are minimal when compared to a state or federal office. I also worked other political campaigns and have been active in the Democratic Party for years.

In coming to an answer to the question of “Why run?” you will have to look within for a reason that can only be determined by you. For myself it was the desire for public service. While I have been very active in the Boy Scouts, community projects and village government, I had been considering a run for a larger office for some time. Eventually it was suggested to me that I should run for U.S. Congress. This is where you have to be careful. You must make sure that the reason you are running and why you believe you are qualified is something that you can articulate and enjoy reading about in the newspaper and share with family, friends, neighbors and constituents. My response to this question was that I wanted to make a difference. When asked why being an attorney who represents mostly clients that have been injured was not enough, the decision became more difficult. Therefore, the first step in deciding to run for office should be deciding in your own mind why you want to run.

Before you decide, lets discuss one more reason not to run - it will not make you rich. Running for office is not economically smart. Setting aside the enormous costs of actually running a campaign, the time away from your practice and the time necessary to run a good campaign in and of itself will prevent you from having either (a) any type of personal life or (b) any type of professional life. It is imperative that you understand that the time commitment of running for office is not limited to running for office. The time commitment, at least in my experience, included hours upon hours upon hours of telephone time, mostly in the evening, mostly when people are home so that you can call them up and attempt to convince them to write you a check or vote for you because you are a great guy and would be perfect for the office. When I ran for Congress I was told that one of the most important elements of running for office was not to have a great platform, not to be cognizant and intelligent on all of the issues of the day, not to be a good speaker or orator, not to have the ability to communicate with people on all levels, but rather the single most important skill was gathering money. I did not realize nor did I have any idea of the work involved in institutionalized begging, sometimes referred to as fund raising. During the campaign you will be required to make lists upon lists of people you will call for support. These lists are usually in the form of circles. The innermost circle being family, the next circle being friends, the next circle being business associates, the next circle being those people who hate whoever you are running against and the next circle being party affiliates and people that are going to vote for you simply because you belong to one political party or another.

Having said all this, if you are still inclined to run for office then you must have a plan to compensate for the time that you will not be able to tend to your practice. In my case I was lucky to have a very professional and committed loyal staff who work for my firm. I also had attorneys who agreed to pick up the slack in my time for no additional compensation, who believed in my desire and supported me wholeheartedly in my efforts to win elected office. Again, I was lucky. You will also need a back up plan. You must have a plan that includes both the time and commitment that it will take to run for office as well as a plan for what will happen in the event that you actually win your elected office. You must keep in mind that in the event you win your office, winning a federal level office is very different than winning a state level office. For example, if you decide that you want to be a State Representative, you are allowed to continue to practice law. The State Representative job is constitutionally considered a part-time position and therefore, you are allowed to continue the practice of law. Not so for federal office. As a U.S. Congressman, you are not allowed to participate in any kind of position where you would have a fiduciary duty. This essentially eliminates the practice of law. You must make a plan and have several contingencies in place for running for office, winning office and losing office.

After reading all of this, if you still want to run for office, the next decision is how are you going to communicate this to your clients. In my case I had a website to help get the message out. I also talked to my clients at every opportunity and discussed with them the fact that while I was running for office their matters would be attended to, they would not be lost in the fog of the campaign and, in the event that I won, I reassured them that other members of the firm would be able to represent them in their cases and that they should not be concerned. Other ethical issues may also pop up. For example, many clients wanted to contribute to my campaign. This required extra precaution not only in conforming with any maximum limits of contributions and reporting requirements but also required the delicate balance of making sure the client understood that they were donating to Zane Smith the candidate - not Zane Smith the lawyer and that any donations to Zane Smith the candidate would not positively or negatively affect Zane Smith the lawyer’s efforts to continue to represent them. I also had to be very careful not to solicit any clients for donations because that could be an ethical violation.

If after the family, fund-raising, partnership, legal, ethical, financial and moral hurdles have all been cleared, you still want to run for office make sure that you also consider the ramifications of living a public life. While some attorneys who work with high profile cases will have occasion to deal with the press and provide them with bits and pieces of information regarding cases they are working on or trials that have occurred, dealing with members of the press as a candidate is entirely different and requires a different set of skills. You should also note that there is a huge difference between convincing a jury of twelve to rule in your favor based on controlled evidence that you have known and learned about in the two years prior to trial than it is to be speaking into a microphone in a room filled with the press and strangers about how you and your party plan to solve the healthcare crisis within the next three months.

The next consideration in running for office is whether or not you can tolerate the uncontrolled human contact, or put more delicately, the loss of privacy. As an attorney, most of the time clients are seeking you out for information, advice or representation. They come to your office with a fixed set of problems looking for solutions that you can provide, usually within the realm of your experience or professional knowledge. You provide those services and they leave. Politics is totally different. You will be in a mix of people who will look to you to solve any and all problems even remotely associated with whatever office you are seeking. If it is a State Representative, it is going to be school taxes; if it is a Judge, it is going to be rampant crime; if it is a U.S. Congressman, it is going to be the Iraq war; if it is a local Alderman, it is going to be trash pick up in the alleys. Each of these problems, while anticipated cannot all be resolved in a 30 second sound bite or during an unprepared interface with the public or the press. Your own personal constitution must be such that you can tolerate this kind of intrusion into your personal space and time.

Even more fun can be the detailed examination of everything you have done since you were 12 years old. Any and all skeletons that you may have in your closet, whether actual or perceived, will all be brought out into the light of day, paraded around, examined and picked at by persons who either support the other side or are just generally against politicians. When making the decision to run for office you must understand and be prepared that the worst thing you have done in your life will be on the front page of the local newspaper to be read by your family, friends and colleagues. The general rule is that if there is anything in your past that you would not want your mother to read on the front page of the Tribune then you may not want to run for office.

As discussed above, running for office is not financially lucrative and that should never be a reason to run. Even the fringe benefits of running for office i.e., the availability of perks like paid trips, access to power, free lunches, all have been reduced or completely curtailed. If, in your heart, you have a true desire the serve the public and to dedicate your life to public service then by all means run. Government needs good, moral, smart candidates and I would encourage each and every one of you to contribute to your community, whether that is volunteering at the local church or synagogue or civic organization, providing pro-bono legal services or running for office. We each have a responsibility to make the world a better place. As an attorney, you already have the tools and skills available to make a difference in society and leave your mark. And remember, when you look back and tally up your life’s accomplishments, chief among them will be the benefits that you provided to your neighbor as a citizen, lawyer or elected official. You have my vote.

Zane D. Smith is the founding partner of Zane D. Smith & Associates, specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury