Guest Post: How My Voice Is Making a Difference (and Yours Can Too)

The impact of local government on our daily lives is often under-estimated and local elections often suffer from a lack of candidates and poor voter turnout. Our New Leaders Project encourages activists to actively work to find conservative leaders to run for local office, and to consider becoming an elected official themselves. This is the story of Heather Cordasco, one such activist.

Have you ever been frustrated with your local, state or political leaders? I have! Have you ever considered running for office! I hadn’t, until someone approached me. Prior to the elections in 2008, I had been, as many conservatives are, busy raising my children, working part time and volunteering in the community and in my local church. I voted but gave little thought as to what happened after the election.

In November of 2008, I was discouraged at the election results and started searching for ways to get involved to be part of a change that I could believe in. I became involved with my local political party and soon found my way into leadership. I was asked to be part of our local redistricting committee and worked with a local operative. After our committee compiled our final report, he approached me about running for a seat on our school board.

At first, I said no, flatly. I had no experience and just wasn’t sure. After a few weeks, he asked me again. This time, I spoke to my husband to get his opinion. My husband travels a lot and we were in the process of moving and he expressed concern that it would just be too much, so I said no again. My colleague was not to be deterred and a few weeks later, he approached me again. This time, after thought, prayer, and discussion with my family, I decided to move forward.

I filed paperwork in August of 2011 and worked as hard as I ever have in my life. My experience working with the local political committee paid off, as did much of my previous volunteer work. I had already knocked lots of doors with the committee and knew I was good at it! In addition, my volunteer work had established connections with the community that were extremely helpful in my run for office.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I was elected to office. I have been on the board since January 2012. The media and other sources like to tell you that the conservative argument is losing; my contention is the conservative argument isn’t being made. When a sound, logical, fact-based unemotional argument is made, the response is often something like, “That’s a good point” or “ I never thought about that before.” Our school board meetings are televised and many in the community watch them, so my arguments are heard by many.

I have also volunteered for many other committees, such as the Legislative Positions Committee of the Virginia School Boards Association. The committee reviews potential positions and recommend whether they should be supported by the VSBA, from there they are sent to the General Assembly. At one meeting, one county purported to have a problem with cars passing stopped school buses. They came with no quantifiable data and their solution was to impose a civil fine based on footage from red light cameras, other county camera’s and even cell phone camera footage. I watched incredulously at the faces around the table who seemed to be shaking their heads in agreement. After the position was explained, I began to ask questions and point out difficulties with the proposal. As the committee began to consider my points, I could see consensus building and as the vote was taken, the proposal was defeated. The conservative voice made a difference!

If you are discouraged with the current political system, I encourage you to consider running for your local office and to encourage others to do the same. Your voice will make a difference and you will be developing additional experience that may lead you to consider running for another office in the future. Stay tuned, I am considering just that!

If you are considering running for office or want to start identifying new leaders for your local government, click here to register to join the New Leaders Project and use our free resources.