Just wondering

Just like a 34 year old or a 44 year old or a 54 year old.

Faster than me...

G4A,
I stand corrected.
"Quite a bit faster than" a 34 year old or a 44 year old or a 54 year old.

I was waiting to see the punch line.

can we make a few up?

Ironically I'm seriously wondering though.

Jason:

Stop in at your county courthouse and ask the clerk of court.
Take some money...it costs a few hundred here...most goes to
the party you file to represent. But, I think you can also collect
petition names too...but that's here...I'm not sure about Texas.

But, if you are really thinking about it, start-up a small group
to scout support...money mainly...local races are cheaper,
but it still takes at least four zeros behind your number to play,
even in an abbreviated campaign. Have fun.

Take cash with you to the county office... they usually do not accept anything else.

First, make sure you're old enough to run for the office you want to run for and that you meet any other qualifications. (Some have minimum ages, and some, judges for example, have other standards.)

Check with your county party chairman if you are running in a race that requires party affiliation, or with the county elections office, city secretary or school district for a local office.

You can pay a filing fee or collect signatures. For first-time candidates, the petition route is usually advised, as it also gives you a chance to get out and meet your potential constituents.

It's too late to run for party-affiliation offices this year. Depending on your city and when its local elections are, that might still be a possibility.

City and school races, which are technically nonpartisan, are a good place to get your feet wet.

might I add if it is too late to register....volunteer to help a local candidate where you will meet people who know exactly what you need to do. They might even help you out.

Try it. What have you to lose besides time posting here.

Looks like you got some good advice, especially from the TX folks (which is more important with regards to local laws than I can give you).

If you've worked for a party before, you should have some help there. I ran for mayor (non-partisan race) when I was 19. In WI, all I needed to do was get enough signatures to be considered a candidate, but since I had missed the filing date to be on the ballot, I was a write-in candidate. It was fun, got to debate two guys in their 60s at the time. Ran some radio spots and newspaper ads.

Listen to the advice you've been given here, and seek out those that you can trust to give you good advice and help locally.

This is a good idea and a good way to make contacts and learn the lay of the land, so to speak. Jan. 2 was the filing deadline for the March primaries in TX.

A couple of other thoughts:

Jason, you are in the Austin area, aren't you? They have a very active chapter of Stonewall Democrats, which would be an excellent resource.

Or for something completely different, volunteer for Kinky Friedman's gubernatorial campaign!

First off you need to go to your precinct meeting held the evening of the primaries; talk and get to know the people running your party. Tell them what you want to do and tell them you want the party's support. DON'T BE SHY!

If you are going to run this election cycle you need to get ahold of the party apparatus asap and they will take you through the process.

I'm sorry Jason, I didn't realise you wanted to run yourself.

in Nov. a teen won a position, youngest in America I believe.Don't remember where that was.

I see Buffalo Mark down there, he should have good advice for you.

What office are you interested in running for, Jason?

Also, you really need to know, hands down, the duties and issues involved in the office you seek. For example, if you want to run for city council or school board, you need to go to city council or school board meetings. If you run, you want to be a credible, well-informed candidate. That's very important for LGBT candidates especially.

Yeah, don't write a hot check. Some candidate in Austin last week paid with a check that bounced. He's out of the running.

Dallas

Not for sure right now I'm trying to take advise before I try. I may start off small because that seems to be the best advise right now and just visit everyone in order to get the lay of the land like others have advise. I don't know how long it will take me, but I think it might be interesting to try.

Dallas has an active Stonewall chapter, too: www.stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org. Its next meeting is Feb. 15.

I'm researching more on that as we speak. I may try to go, but a lot is going to depend on what type of area they are holding it in.

Go for it Jason !
Listen to Indianhead too, he's done it.
To hell with waiting on your candidate! You are your candidate.

That would be bitchin to see a CGCS member running for office.

and if I can end up doing this anyone here can too

Not sure i'd want to do it but i'd vote for you.
Hell though, i'd vote G4A for President

Seriously Jason, get to know some of the local politicians. Wouldn't hurt if you have a state rep to buddy up with too. Lawyers tend to donate to Dems to.

We had a guy younger than you become Mayor of my town.
Now he works in much higher places.

You might want to start off small, like a water quality board or some control district.

Dallas is a good town to run in. Its changing demographics have made it much more Democratic- and GLBT-friendly. In fact, Dallas has a good number of openly gay elected officials.

Now, over on this side of the Metroplex, if I were to run (which I am definitely NOT), to be even remotely competitive I would have to run in a nonpartisan race and downplay my political affiliation. Maybe (gasp) even vote in the Republican primary a few times first!!!!

Or if you're interested in city politics, a great way to start would be to try to get appointed to a city committee. There are lots of different ones that should be listed, along with an application form, on the city of Dallas website.