We’ve brought you candidates for County Council and School Board, and in the coming weeks, you’ll meet the candidates for Greenville County Probate Judge and State Superintendent of Education. We hope you are hearing from candidates you’d like to support. Of course, your vote is the most important way to do that. But there are many more ways to get involved and multiply your impact.
On today’s episode, we’ll talk about how to do that. Our producer Nathaniel DeSantis, who is a newer voter, interviews Derek Lewis, who has run two successful races for Greenville County school board and is now concluding his term. They have great tips for how to get involved and show your support, some simple and free and others requiring a bigger investment of time, but time that typically pays dividends for the candidate.
Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company. Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville.
Transcript
Katy Smith
Now that you’ve been listening to the Simple c=Civics podcast and have met candidates for Greenville County School Board and county council and in coming weeks we’ll meet probate judge and State Superintendent of Education. Hopefully you have some folks that you are excited to support as candidates. Of course, your vote is the most important way to do that. But there are many more ways to get involved and multiply your impact. On today’s episode, we’ll talk about how to do that. Our producer Nathaniel DeSantis, with Greenville podcast company, who is a bit of a newer voter, interviews Derek Lewis, who has run to successful races for Greenville County School Board, and is now concluding his term. They have great tips for how to get involved and show your support. Some simple and free and others requiring a slightly bigger investment of time. But time that typically pays great dividends for the candidates.
Nathaniel DeSantis
I’m excited to be here today with Derek Lewis, to talk about campaigns. And let’s just jump right into it. Now, let’s say I want to casually get involved with the campaign and with a candidate. It’s my first campaign I’ve ever want to get involved in. And I just want to dip my toes into the water, see what it’s like, what do I do?
Derek Lewis
Yeah, so I think you know, one is to find the right candidate, somebody that you are actually happy to see running. The very first campaign I got involved with, was a friend of mine, who happened to also have worked at Camp Greenville with me, and was running for the Senate. And I was just thrilled that somebody I knew was running for office. And so just finding the right people, I think, is a really important first step. And I think the podcasts that that you guys have helped to put on are really a great way for people to meet candidates, at least virtually, and hear which candidates really stand for the issues that are important. So so the first thing is really to find those people who are a good fit for you. I think once you find them, you know, signs don’t vote is one of the most common phrases that campaign managers will tell you. Just because the signs out in somebody’s yard doesn’t mean that that person is going to win that street, you know, 50 signs to one sign. But signs make a difference. And as you drive up and down a street, if you see 50 of one campaigns sign and one of the other campaign sign it it does give the impression to people who may not live on that street, that that person is favored significantly over the other candidate. And so just putting a sign in your yard is a is a really important way to tell the candidate and to tell your neighbors, this person is important enough to me that I’m willing to devote part of my yard space to celebrate in that that campaign. But the other thing that really makes a difference is social media. I mean, you know, most candidates can’t afford to buy a mailer, they they’re not going to get covered on the front page of the newspaper. They’re not getting interviewed by, you know, major media outlets, they’re, they’re really trusting on word of mouth to get them across that finish line. And so if you see a candidate, put something on social media and you agree with it, you know just liking it, or just, you know, just sharing it is a really great way to say like I value what this person is saying enough to just agree with them. And it makes it makes a big difference. I mean, people look at those likes and shares, almost as if you’re vouching for that person. And so it’s just a great way that you can just get a little bit involved. And you don’t have to like everything they say, you know, but you can like just some of it.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Yeah. And to add on top of that, it also helps with the algorithm. So it helps share it beyond just your network and who you’re liking it. But yes, the infamous algorithms will pick up on the fact that more people are liking that. And I want to just add on top of your the yard signs is another really easy way is stickers on your car. If your candidates have a sticker, that’s another really easy thing you can do. I’ve worked for a few campaigns. And that was a strategy where we would hand out car stickers, the waterproof ones. And it’s another really easy, non committal way to just support a candidate and get their name out.
Derek Lewis
Yeah, you know, the especially kind of back to the algorithms to you know, the really smart candidates are the ones who figured out how to say 20 things a week and only five of them are political right, but five are pictures of my dog and five are pictures of me and my family and and so even if those are the ones you like, like you don’t have to necessarily like their position on you know, millage rate increases but you know, if you just like the picture of them at the Fall Festival with their dog, it, those those things also make a difference.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Yeah, exactly. So now let’s I’m a step up and I’m a little bit more committed to a candidate and their campaign. What do I do in that situation?
Derek Lewis
Yes, so I would say the most important thing you can do is donate money to candidates because right now the candidates are going to be at a place where if they have an extra $4,000 in the bank which would be, you know, 50 people, giving a little bit of money. They can they could buy a mailer, that maybe they weren’t thinking about buying, or they could buy $4,000 worth of sponsored posts on social media, they could do a lot with $4,000, that maybe wasn’t on their budget list of things they thought they could afford. So a $50 $100 donation to a candidate makes a huge difference. Also, it makes a difference, because that candidate can tell people if you give them permission, these are the people who are supporting my campaign. And those, those donations really help people understand like, Oh, these 25 people supported Derek Lewis, therefore, if I like these 25, people, I would also want to support Derek. So it, it really just shows that you’re putting your money where your mouth is, and again, $50 $100 makes a huge difference to a candidate. The other thing though, is, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s a numbers game, right. And so a candidates got to get in front of people that they don’t know, and trust them to build a relationship enough with you that you would go out and vote for them and remember their name and go out and vote for them. So if a candidate can’t knock on 11,000 doors, and can’t get 11,000 people to come to the front door and shake their hands, then you can help make that bridge happen by just sending out an email to 20 of your friends that says, Hey, I just want you to know that this person is running for city council. And I think they’re an All right, dude. And you may not have met them yet. But I’ve met them and I vouch for them. And those 20 people may never get to meet you. But they they’ve heard from somebody who who can vouch for you,
Nathaniel DeSantis
Right. It’s the same idea where someone’s more likely to buy a product if a friend recommends it. Yeah, just sharing it and kind of vouching for them to your friend group. Right. Do you have anything else to add to that?
Derek Lewis
No, just you know, the weirdest thing for me when I was running my first campaign was, you know, we would you know, you start paying attention, things you never paid attention to before, right? Like, who has signs in their yards and who has your signs? And it’s so weird when to see your name on a sign in someone’s yard? It’s super weird to see your name on a sign in someone’s yard of a person you don’t know, right? And so you drive down the street and you’re like, where did that person get a sign for me? Like, I don’t even know who lives there. And you look it up. And you’re like, I don’t I don’t even know these people. But somebody told somebody that this person is a good person. And they went and found a sign and are supporting you even though even though you’ve never met them before.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Yeah, that’s cool. Okay, so let’s say I am fully 100% committed to a candidate and I really want to help out their campaign, what do I do in that situation?
Derek Lewis
You want to throw a party at your house, that’s, that’s the number one thing you want to do. You want to you want to send out an email to 20 of your friends and say, Hey, 4pm, this Friday, come by my house for a glass of wine, and meet so and so who’s running for county council. Because, again, they may never come to the party. But being invited to that party may be that final thing they need to make that link. And so you know, just being able to stick your neck out with to throw a party, or being able to just drive around and put out signs and people’s yards, or being willing to go door to door and talk to your neighbors, you know, those are all important, but that that party is really the thing that will get people to, to step across that line to meet that candidate.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Explain like if you wanted to have a party, what is that like when you’re actually there?
Derek Lewis
Yeah, so the first party we ever threw was actually a peanut party. And so we just put up bowl peanuts, and beer and wine and soft drinks. And people dropped in and they stayed for 15 minutes, and they shook the candidates hand, and they left and most people didn’t stay for very long. So the whole party lasted an hour. Right. And so it’s not really a party. It’s really more of a meet and greet. Yeah. But but you know, you just it just needs to be long enough that people can just plan the time to just drop in, say, hi, maybe grab a yard sign, maybe make a donation and, and head out. Now that’s some people have put on some really large scale events this year that I’ve, I’ve seen where people have spent multiple hours, but I think it’s just it’s really just about providing an opportunity.
Nathaniel DeSantis
So let’s say I want to host a party for a candidate and I want to invite 20 of my friends. How do I go about explaining to them how this party goes?
Derek Lewis
Yeah, so I think that the really important thing is it’s the link between you and the candidate that’s really helping to open doors for people. Well, one thing is they used to tell me was you actually want to invite 100 people and hope that only five of them show up because then you’re you’re planning a party for five to 10 people but 100 people heard that you cared so much about this candidate that you are going to have people over at your house or at the park down the street. So it is actually a great way for people to learn about candidates, because you can come and just just hear what this candidate has to say that’s, that’s important. You can ask them questions that maybe they haven’t posted on their Facebook or on their social media or on their website. And you can make a decision whether this person is a good fit for you. In fact, we, on our street, we have a couple of folks who are endorsing a different candidate than I would throw a party for. But we invited them to our house for the party, because I want them to meet this person and to decide like, did you choose to endorse one person because they were fine? Or did you get to meet both candidates and really make a decision about which one is best for you? I want people to have more information than have less information. And so I think people should be encouraged to come, even if they’re not certain they’re going to support that person or not.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Absolutely. And I’ll I’ll say that, from my experience doing this podcast with Katie, what I’ve noticed is that there’s a way that candidates are presented to us online and through the media and through and through just rumors and word of mouth. And then there’s the way that the candidates actually present themselves. And unless you get that personal face to face, you don’t really get to see that. So inviting your friends over to actually get to see them and discuss with them and hear their thoughts and their ideas for whatever position they’re running for. It’s a really, really powerful way to humanize the candidate, and especially if you’re really fully committed to them. And then the last question is, how do I find a candidate? Very simple question, but there are lots of ways to do it. So if you could elaborate on that for everyone listening?
Derek Lewis
Yes. So the first thing I would say, if you’re looking for candidates is to go back and listen to the podcasts that we’ve recorded over the last nine months, because I just think they are really exceptional. And the one thing I appreciate about the podcast is they asked all the candidates running from the races, the same questions. And so you can trust that there weren’t kind of gotcha questions. There weren’t hidden questions. You knew coming into it, you know, what do you want.. what difference do you want to make in our community? And how are you going to do it? And to me, if a candidate can’t clearly articulate those things, they probably need to be a little bit more thoughtful about why it is they’re running. So it really helps to filter out candidates. From there, I think you can go and find their websites. Most candidates, though, don’t have formal, flashy, fancy websites, they may just have a Facebook page, but you can you can go back into their Facebook page or their political page that they’ve created, and really see what what are their priorities. Where have they been to talk about their priorities? Who are they spending time with, as they’re, as they’re campaigning, and really just kind of kind of find people that are a good fit. But the other thing is, should look at those candidates pages, and see who’s liking and commenting on their stuff, because you’ll find like, Oh, I didn’t even know who was running for probate judge. But I know that I like these 12 people, and they all seem to resonate to this candidate. And so even though you may not have met a candidate, you may be able to look through likes and comments, shares, to see which candidate seems more likely to resonate with people you respect.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Right. And then I’ll add on top of that, because I have to get all the websites for the for the podcast description and the show notes. Sometimes you can’t find a Facebook or website, the last resort check on LinkedIn. It’s not formal in the sense that they’re advertising their campaign there. But you can generally find all the candidates there, see their experience, their educational background, what are they up to now? And it’s just that’s.. that’s good to supplement, in addition to the other ones if you can’t find them. And I agree wholeheartedly listen to the podcast.
Derek Lewis
You know, the thing that I think most people don’t understand is that most of the candidates running for local races didn’t raise a million dollars. You know, maybe if you get into a county council race, or you get into a State House or Senate race, like maybe those people are raising six figures to run a campaign. But school board members are running a campaign for 3000 5000. If you’ve got $8,000, you’re you’re running a well funded campaign. And so they may not have $3,000, to pay somebody to build a website. And to do that, because they may have chosen to use all that money to send out one mailer, that’s going to go out one time, and they’re hoping that that’s going to get it. They may not have good advice coming from their campaign managers about how to get a presence out. And so yeah, I think the podcasts really do provide an opportunity for people to hear from candidates that maybe don’t have have as a well funded campaign or as well formulated a campaign strategy
Nathaniel DeSantis
and and to add on to those who are like fully committed to a campaign. I’d say even look at what is your area of expertise. So going off what you said, if you know how to make a website and you really care for a candidate and they don’t have a website, well, that’s something you can you can do for them. You can help them out with that with your area of expertise instead of… if you don’t want to put money down or donate, you can help their campaign if you are a phenomenal writer, you can help draft copy to put on social media for them or on their Facebook or their website. So there are other ways to use what knowledge you have to potentially help candidates as well.
Derek Lewis
That’s a really good example. You know, we we, when we ran our campaign we needed we needed a photographer to take some pictures of our family, we had people that volunteer to do that for us, because they knew how to make them look better than us just using our iPhone to take pictures. We had people who worked for a printing company that printed napkins for us with our logo on it, you know, things that like we would never kind of put that in our budget of things we’d want to spend. So you’re right, like there are things that can really help boost someone’s campaign that may be within your wheelhouse of ways to help them.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Yeah. Well, Derek, thank you very much as always, for coming on to the podcast. And if you have anything else to add, now’s the time to do that.
Derek Lewis
No, I just thank you guys for doing the podcast. I think it’s just such a.. it’s been such a great way to ensure that all candidates get the same opportunity for equal exposure. And I just think it’s such a such a great thing that we’ve offered to the community.
Nathaniel DeSantis
Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you again for coming on.
Catherine Puckett
Simple Civic: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org. This is a production of the Greenville podcast company.
Image via TimothyJ
