Unproven election candidates

[Steve from Lambeth]

I saw this post in the NC-GOV thread:

Honestly the race in NC that scares me more, especially with the gubernatorial race taking up all the oxygen, is the Superintendent race.

Incumbent Truitt lost to January 6 rioter, homeschooler, wannabe public school destroyer Michele Morrow. She has 0 background in education administration, or just administration in general.

What worries me is that no one will pay attention and she’ll fly under the radar like Robinson did in 2020. But unlike Robinson she’s running for a position where she can actively harm millions of children instead of just shouting obscenities for four years.

Homeschooling, ‘indoctrination,’ Jan. 6: A look at NC’s new GOP superintendent candidate

This - and, as a contrast, the perennial candidates thread - has led me to think: how many people have gotten onto a general election ballot, or even won, despite having no political experience prior to making it? (No primary failures. Looking at you, John Anthony Castro.)

The obvious examples of recent times are Donald Trump and Kari Lake. I'd imagine that the same would apply to many first-time state legislature or city council candidates, too. More intriguingly, Liv "Viva Las Vegas" Osthus has jumped into this year's Portland mayoral race; pressed by the Willamette Week on her leadership experiences, the strip club dancer straight-up admitted "I have none."

[Roll Roons]

Pretty much every House freshman class includes a fair number of first-time candidates.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Oh hey that’s me.

The question is what do you count as election experience.

There are dozens, probably over a hundred, members of the house that that’s their first elected position.

Boebert, for example, first ran for office in 2020 when she successfully primaried Tipton. Prior to that, however, she spent a year confronted politicians,  speaking at city councils, and defying COVID restrictions that gave her a lot of attention.

You then have people like Katie Porter who served in prominent appointed positions before running for an elected position. Porter served on a board that oversaw bank reforms.

You also have people like Neal Dunn who just had a long career of people involved in their community. These types probably have had experience and interests in politics long before running for office, but never had engaged in politics in any official capacity besides maybe the occasional donations

You also have people who have just generally been prominent in their community as a trusted “moral” leader, people like María Elvira Salazar or Raphael Warnock.

As far as people who have had next to no political involvement and were recruited by the party to run that’s probably the smallest demographic.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Also worth noting that in the NC Superintendent race the democrat, Mo Green, has never run for office but has served county school boards in two different counties as administrator or counsel