I Want To Run For Office... Some Day

Part of my job as the Chair of the Wasco County (Oregon) Democrats is to make sure we have a full slate of Democratic candidates on the ballot.  Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.  It seems crazy to me that in a county where the majority of registered voters are Democrats we have so few Democrats interested in running for office.  But then it occurred to me, maybe they're like me-they have the skills, knowledge and desire to serve, but they aren't sure about the nuts and bolts of being a candidate and running a campaign. 

Thanks to Emerge, female Democrats can now learn these skills and meet the people they'll need to know in order to run a winning campaign.  Emerge Oregon has been a fantastic opportunity for me and I highly recommend the Emerge experience to any female Democrat considering a run for office. 

I have known for a long time that I wanted to run for office...someday.  That, after all, is the reason I applied to be in the Emerge Oregon Class of 2010.  Just going through the interview process and being accepted into the class validated my potential as a viable candidate.  Now, with less than a month to go until graduation, I've realized that someday might be sooner than I thought. 

In an unusual turn of events, my county party has the opportunity to nominate a General Election candidate for County Commissioner, even though no Democrat ran in the May Primary.  The Republican who won his party's nomination for the seat failed to receive the majority of write-in votes on the Democratic ballot, which left a Democratic vacancy on the General Election ballot.  Thanks to everything I've learned and all the people I met through Emerge Oregon, I am in a great position to seek this nomination.  Had it not been for Emerge, I would still be saying..."someday."

Darcy Long-Curtiss
Chair, Wasco County Democrats
Emerge Oregon Class of 2010