Pam for Pike

Over the past few weeks, I spent some time back home in Pike County, PA as I transition from "the real world" back to college life again. The timing aligned with primary election season, so I found myself engulfed in local politics and essentially managing a county commissioner's race.

It seems odd that as much as I am involved in politics, I have not worked for a candidate before. I guess that's because I have never had the opportunity to work for someone I really believed in. In this case, I did – her name is Pam Lutfy. I got to know Pam during her time on the local school board. She's thoughtful, intelligent, a good listener, and a consensus-builder. Most of all, she does what she feels is the right thing to do. I'm hard pressed to think of another public official I can describe in the same way. 

She decided to toss her hat into the Republican primary against two other candidates – an incumbent, and the handpicked replacement of the other outgoing Republican commissioner. That act in itself took courage. Competitive elections are rare because the party establishment usually chooses its candidates and that's the end. Indeed, a handful of other Republicans who wanted to run dropped out once the outgoing commissioner's replacement was picked.

Pam's candidacy was encouraging because her election would mean the end to the good old boy style government we have in Pike County – where it seems the only way to get anything done is to be in the good graces of the party leaders, where transparency is pretty much a foreign idea, and where protecting one's own behind is the top priority. It was exciting for many people to see a female moderate Republican standing up to the status quo. 

During the campaign, I traveled to all parts of the county I have never been before (gaining an even deeper appreciation for the area I was raised) and developed a better understanding of how local politics (actually) works. I now see how campaigns can make people cynical: issues really don't matter, hardly anyone votes, and candidates get bogged down in defending unfounded rumors. But on the bright side, I also saw how a candidate like Pam was able to accomplish so much by keeping a positive attitude. 

On one occasion, Pam spent over an hour on the phone with a single resident of the county answering all of his questions and concerns, and agreeing to disagree on issues where they differed. He was so impressed that she spent that much time with him that he drove from the other part of the county to attend our open house and recorded a TV spot for Pam. On another occasion, we had a heckler on our Facebook page making all kinds of negative comments about how Pam would not support people with disabilities (it was quite strange). I suggested we just block him from the page. Pam, on the hand, went back and forth with him via email and two weeks later, he was working the polls for us.

In the end, Pam wound up losing the Republican primary...but she got over Democratic 200 write-in votes. It was enough to earn her a place on the Democratic line on the general election ballot. So the race continues, albeit it in a very odd way. It shows how difficult it is for a candidate who does not appeal to the base of either party to get to the general election, even if he or she has broad support among the wider electorate. 

As a result, the campaign really brought things full circle for me. I found that my work in helping to create a more open and competitive political process on the national level had relevance right in my own back yard.