Frustrated CA conservative becomes focused, winning candidate

Chris Koerber and his wife, Halcyon, attended an American Majority candidate training in the summer of 2010. In the past, the Koerbers were just typical good citizens. While they voted and tried to stay educated on news and current events, they had not attended rallies, worked directly to support candidates or run for office. But they were concerned about the direction of their state and their country and wanted to learn how they could make their political voice heard.

The AM training the Koerbers attended focused on how to effectively employ social media, build a campaign plan and craft a precinct-level campaign. The Koerbers learned the importance of individual voter contact and how there is no substitute for actually knocking on a voter’s door, communicating your message and asking for their vote.

The Koerbers may have walked in as frustrated conservatives, but they walked out as trained and focused activists. That fall, they worked hard in their home town of Sierra Madre, California to promote conservative policies and elect conservative candidates.

Chris had never really considered the idea of running for office before attending the American Majority training. But after the American Majority training, he began wondering if he was called to step up. When an unexpired term on the Sierra Madre city council opened up earlier this year, he threw his hat in the ring.

Most of Chris’s opponents planned on waiting until late March to start engaging voters and block-walking, Chris and his crew started in January. They knew the platform would resonate with Sierra Madre voters but had a small budget and little name ID.

“I had one A+ activity,” Chris says. “The highest priority that trumped everything else: talking to Voters!”

On weeknights he phone banked. On Saturdays he block walked. He held meet-and-greet functions in supporters’ homes. Every chance he got, Chris shared his platform of fiscal responsibility and how it was the right plan at the right time for Sierra Madre.

About 11,000 people live in Sierra Madre, roughly 7,000 of which are registered to vote. Chris won his seat with 1535 votes. The second place finisher held 1290. Not only did his campaign receive the highest vote total of all three City Council races, their efforts helped defeat a 20% city utility tax increase.

“After Halcyon and I took your American Majority training in Ontario, CA, the biggest takeaway that I remember was: You have to knock on doors to get out the vote. I recall the training said it took about 20 pieces of mail or 10 calls, or 1 knock on the door to get the same results.”

Chris is now one of five city council members governing a budget of over $20 Million and 67 City employees.

We’re very proud of the work that Chris did. The story of his victory is a case study in how conservatives with the right training can defeat a liberal tax-and-spend fiscal policy and change the face of our government.