Project One

There was something different about this campaign. I had worked on so many before, but this one, I personally knew the guy. The man’s name was Stephen Wolgamott and he was running for Leesburg City Commissioner. He was a man of substance, a man with a plan, you could say. He had virtually no political experience, but that’s what made him so intriguing. An outsider with so much to get done, but he hadn’t even won the seat yet. His opponent, a woman enhanced in age, who had won the seat in the previous election. They weren’t too far apart on their personal politics, but she wasn’t truly about the change that Wolgamott sought, she was fine with sticking to the status quo, and that’s why Wolgamott felt so strongly about wanting to challenge her.

I wasn’t planning to have such a large role in his campaign, I had just finished campaigning for a Florida State Senate race, US Congress race, and even the Presidential race. I was asked to be the Volunteer Coordinator, which at 17 was quite exhilarating. My job included organizing large amounts of people, both adults and teenagers, to canvas in neighborhoods, wave signs, and make phone calls. You might ask why would a 17-year-old intentionally get involved with politics when they cannot vote, which is a legitimate question. At least for me, I felt the need to be involved, to have a hand in the outcome of a race, whether local, statewide, or national. I personally believe that every person on a campaign has the support and opportunity to change the outcome of a race, especially in an underdog situation.

The first task was to meet with potential volunteers that I had rounded up, and distribute what would be our message. The message was in fact a vivid white t-shirt with the words “Stephen Wolgamott for Leesburg City Commissioner”. No matter where we went as a group it was always with the t-shirts. You knew who we were rallying for, whether you liked him or not. The t-shirt almost gave us as volunteers an extra connection, that no matter who we were or where we came from, we had a cause that united us all. It’s amusing how a t-shirt can have that kind of effect on you, not only as a person, but as someone campaigning. With such a distinct name, it was a frequent conversation starter with someone who was unfamiliar with him or who was curious about his platform.

I enjoyed campaigning, I felt that it was a necessary good to have in your life. What I mean by that is, you must have the right person running for the position, and we had that in this instance. I feel that you can’t really invest fully into a campaign without truly believing in the person that is running for the office. I felt strongly that he was a great candidate and would improve the city as he told everyone he would. I was quite invested in this campaign; I found myself not only thinking about the campaign during school, but after school, in the morning, every moment of the day I tried to think of something that we were not doing that could help improve our chances of winning. This isn’t the typical thing you would expect from a senior in high school, when most high schoolers could care less about politics, and how it affects them. For me, political involvement means the world, especially being a young person that can have a large affect in my area. How can you say no to that?

We went to a large area in the district one weekend and covered about 200 houses with 40 people. Of course, we were all wearing our t-shirts, the great conversation starters. I was proud of how many houses we covered in such a short time. The volunteers weren’t here to goof around, they were here to create a real change in the community and I admired that. We had many of these weekend canvasing events, trying to do as much outreach as possible for the race. Yard signs had been overtaking the shirts, everyone had a yard sign that looked exactly like the shirts. There was a deeper meaning than just signs, though, they told the story of the candidate, but also the many people that were willing to put their lives on hold for a few hours at a time, to support a guy they thought could make something happen in the community.

Yard signs had become more and more recognizable throughout the district, they were everywhere. Everyone was talking about Stephen Wolgamott. There were a few debates, and I thought he did well. I was always there wearing my t-shirt supporting a great guy in the process. One thing that we lacked was access in the sense that part of the district would not allow the public to canvas in the area, which greatly diminished our chances of winning. We had amazing results in the communities that allowed solicitation, but in these ones, it was quite difficult to spread the word, or even get across who he was as a person, along with what he stood for.

Eventually election night came, and we lost, by a narrow margin, but we lost. Of course, I was quite saddened, all our hard work and for nothing. I also realized that in some cases no matter how hard you try or how many hours you can put into something, there’s still a possibility of losing. We didn’t win, but I got experience that some people never get to have, especially at such a young age. I was proud to have so much responsibility in the campaign in which I could help so much. I still wear my white t-shirt with “Stephen Wolgamott for Leesburg City Commissioner” printed on it proudly.

I must say that I look forward to developing my former community back home, into my new community in Tallahassee. I believe it is important to be around people that have similar interests as you and are like-minded, which in this case means political activism along with campaign volunteering. Florida State has a wide range of clubs that would allow me to continue my volunteering, many of which I have already checked out. I look at it this way, there’s so many new experiences and adventures to be had, I just have to find and explore them.