What Nobody Tells You About Running for Local Office

I used to think running for local office was about knocking on doors, shaking hands, and debating policy.

That’s part of it. But it’s not the part that sticks with you.

What actually stays with you are the moments that nobody prepares you for: the weird, humbling, sometimes hilarious realities that come with putting your name out there and asking your own neighbors to judge you.

Here are three things nobody tells you:

• You have to be prepared for the most unpredictable conversations of your life at the worst possible times

Generally when I knock on doors you expect people to ask about taxes for instance, but you don’t expect someone to open the door, look you dead in the eye, and say, “Before I decide if I’m voting for you…what’s your position on the Ukraine war?”

This actually happened.

Not zoning. Not budgets. A war that you can nothing about at the local level.

And now I’m standing there, trying to figure out what my position is on something I don’t know much about, and if elected, can do very little.

I learned very quickly to expect the unexpected.

• People don’t really want perfection—they want someone who actually listens

You go into this thinking you need all the answers. God gave you two ears and 1 moth so use them in proportion.

You don’t.

What people are starving for is someone who will just hear them out—about their taxes, their street, their kid’s school, or the pothole that’s been there for three years.

Half the time, by the end of the conversation, they’re not even asking you to fix it on the spot. They just want to know someone finally took them seriously.

It sounds simple. It’s not. Most people in government have forgotten how to do it.

• You will be misunderstood—and you have to be okay with it

No matter how clear you try to be, someone will twist what you said, assume your intentions, or decide who you are without ever meeting you.

At first, it bothered me.

Then I realized something important, if I spent all my time trying to control what everyone thinks, I’ll never get out of bed.

So you focus on showing up, being consistent, and letting your actions speak over time.

Running for local office isn’t polished. It’s not glamorous. And it’s definitely not predictable.

But it is real.

And if you’re doing it for the right reasons, those awkward conversations, unexpected questions, and long days start to mean something.

Even the people that want you to change international politics from the local level.