When Camp Wellstone alum Jeffrey Bland stepped up to run a school referendum campaign in Missouri, he had a difficult task ahead of him. Any ballot initiative that asks voters to raise taxes would have a hard time in a recession, but the Ladue School District “Prop O” also faced heavily organized opposition, and an electorate in which 40% of parents sent their kids to private school. Jeffrey came to Camp Wellstone in January for a crash course in campaign management and the skills necessary to win the election “the Wellstone Way”.
While Jeffrey had previous campaign experience, he came to Camp Wellstone to get back up to speed quickly and, as a former Minnesotan, to gain the skills to put Paul Wellstone’s particular brand of politics into action in this campaign.
The campaign’s strategy was, first, to shore up the base of district parents. Jeffrey didn’t count on that base to turn out and vote for the Proposition -- he organized volunteers to go out and talk with them and connect them to the campaign. Second, they went into neighborhoods to reach additional likely-yes voters. In the end, needing a 4/7ths super-majority of 57.15% to win, the Proposition passed with 60.41% (4,716 votes) to 39.59% (3,091 votes) for a total of approximately 7,800 votes cast. Voter turnout was at a near record for an April election in the district.
Jeffrey’s story shows just one example of our alums that are hard at work improving their communities, even when they aren’t running for office themselves or working to elect progressive candidates.
In the end, Jeffrey felt that his experience at Camp Wellstone was a key part of the victory. He told us that “Camp Wellstone was not simply about feel-good, progressive ideas; it was about the nuts-and-bolts of what it takes to win and to advance a progressive agenda. I applied EVERYTHING I learned at Camp Wellstone -- from developing a written, campaign plan, to fundraising, to phone scripts, to electoral strategy, to canvassing, and direct-mail. Our campaign did it all and I relied on everything Camp Wellstone taught me.”
We asked Jeffrey for his advice to other alums working to advance an issue agenda or on progressive campaigns. He said, “Campaigns are extraordinarily labor intensive efforts; do not underestimate the work that is involved to be successful. That said, be confident in the skills you learned at Camp Wellstone as they will prove, not only useful, but invaluable as a guide throughout the arc of your own campaign.”