State House, for instance.
A bachelor’s degree from a state university in sociology/criminology would be the only schooling.
Middle class background, single parent, liberal.
No criminal convictions, no drug use(ever!), never even been drunk.
I hope to be a social worker/counselor and get into an elected official position from there. Maybe state house? What should I do first? Mayor?
come on, you guys know everything 
By getting your name on a ballot, and having enough people to vote for you to beat any opponent(s) you might have running against you. Try dog-catcher for your first election.
However, your brief resume does not indicate skeletons in the closet so it might take longer than expected.
Seriously, my first sentence is the gist of it. Start out with name recognition working with/for elected officials helps. You get to know the stuff behind the curtain without having to do it yourself. Name recognition and knowing the behind the scenes details should be a good start. Then at some point when your opinion may begin to matter to some, build a reputation. At some point you will have to jump out of the nest and fly.
Most people start either working with campaigns or in some other government role, or in a little elected office - if you have kids, consider running for school board, for example. City offices are another way to start small; of course, that depends on your city.
If you plan to run as a Democrat, the best thing you can do is start reaching out to unions. They are a prime source of support (and free manpower!) for political campaigns. If there is a union where you work (I’m not even clear that you are working at the moment from the OP) start talking to the local leadership, just getting to know them and so on.
Then, start thinking about a gimmick. I doubt 15% of Americans know who their state senator is, so if you want to be successful, you have to get people to know you. Think about how you can make a catchy play on your name, or have a common theme that would run through all of your campaign literature, signs, pamphlets, and so on.
As far as the actual campaigning, expect that you will spend 90% of your time going door to door in key precincts. If you’re good at making your ambitions known to the unions, they will help you find someone to give political advice about where to campaign and other stuff like that.
In short, I see no need to run for another office before running for your state’s house. You just have to run a good campaign. Hell, Adam Putnam from Florida ran for State Senate, IIRC, directly out of college, and was elected to Congress by the age of 26.
It can be helpful to get one of those lightly contested spots on the county weed board or airport authority under your belt. At the least, it’ll tie you in to the local political establishments, at the most, you may make a hero of yourself by banishing Purple Loosestrife from your area’s hedgerows and wetlands.
Dude, would you believe there were four or five candidates for County Soil and Water Commissioner here? They’ve got to just be running for practice… right?
In Florida it seems to be Mosquito Control Board. There are more signs for that where my folks live than there were for the presidential election - and trust me, there were a lot for the presidential election.
Yeah, the low profile races vary by county. Airport authority isn’t a big deal here, but around a major hub Mr. Turk wouldn’t stand the chance of a nitrocellulose cat in hel.
An excellent first step, if you’re in Pinellas Park as your profile indicates, would be to take advantage of Pinellas County’s Citizen University. In each ten-week session,
This would be an excellent opportunity to learn about your local government entities, meet county officials, and network with others who have an interest in local government.
Given your social work background, Pinellas County’s Homeless Policy Group might be a good way to get involved as well. Meetings are open to the public, so if you just start showing up and getting involved, you’re likely to come to the notice of the group’s members, who include county commissioners, city council members from the municipalities in the county, business and community leaders, etc.
At the same time, it couldn’t hurt to start establishing contact with the county branch of the Democratic Party (since you mention being a liberal, I assume you’ll be running under the auspices of the Democratic Party). Start volunteering, find candidates whose campaign you can work on to learn your way around the process, etc.
The point being that there are tons of opportunities for citizens to involve themselves in the process of governing, whether at the local, county, or state level, and in most cases all you have to do is show up and start working and learning. Do that for a while, and you have a greater understanding of how government really works, and idea of where you can do the most good, and (not least of all) a record of community service and involvement to point to in your first campaign.
I’m not sure if anyone suggested this, but you can apply for an appointment to something like the planning commission or the public transit advisory board. This will get you some experience and exposure and something to mention when you do run for public office.
I do like the idea of Citizen University, that’s incredible.
I was reading through www.pinellascounty.org and 3/7 commissioners have the same level of education I’ll have, so it’s not entirely out of reach. I figure that’d be a good springboard for state house, as Pinellas is one of the largest metro areas in the state of Florida.
thanks for your help, everyone…
My friend w/ a masters in communication would be my campaign manager, he told me. Sweet.
As for unions, they’re not really big here, could definitely reach out to the teachers on my platform of helping kids. That’s mainly what I’d want to run for, to help shape the future for kids (after school program funding, wider array of weekend activities for them, encouraging tax credits for businesses offering daycare). I figure this is a platform that few would be able to argue against, as it’s not as possibly offensive as a Robin Hood-esque rob from the rich and give to the poor plan is to some people. Everything in my platform would pertain to education, juvenile crime prevention, and kids.
Too bad I wouldn’t run for Clerk of the Court… Turk for Clerk! has a good ring to it.
You’re going to need money to run for just about anything ambitious (including State rep). So you need to be connected. Look to join organizations where people with money to give to candidates congregate. I’d suggest talking to the local Dem or Rep office and ask them about entry level type stuff.
And we already have a Burke for Clerk, you Turk!
I know. Burke won, the catchy bastard!
I think the Citizen University is the best idea after I’m able to devote more time to this(as in, not working in a restaurant to pay for college).
Here’s how you show plan your campaign if you want to win.
Find a subject that doesn’t really mean jack, but can be demagoged into a social wedge issue. Then hire some telemarkers to do a push poll, asking the voters how they would feel if they knew your opponent ate dogs raw and may be involved in the Church of Satan.
Also research every minute of your opponents life, be sure to look for a piece of legislation your opponent voted for, against or was absent, that involves 500 unrelated issues, and pick the one the puts him in a the worst light possible.
Do all these things and welcome to the winners circle.
Unless your friend knows how to read precincts, knows election laws, and has access to donors (as small and as few as they might be for a state house seat), my reccomendation would be to let him be your press secretary. Find someone who has worked in at least one campaign to be your campaign manager.
Contrary to the expectations of many, being a manager for a campaign of this size is more about tracking down voter lists, making maps for walking door-to-door, organizing volunteers, and getting printers to give you a discount on your signs than it is about finding wedge issues and crafting public messages. There’s a lot more science than art in that part of the game.
I’d highly recommend seeking a campaign manager from your local party apparatus or from a union, espcially the teacher’s union, since you’re interested in that. These people know how to do the drudgework that is essential to small campaigns, and are critical to helping you win.
Good luck!