Getting Good Representatives
Thoughtful Nudging Makes a Difference
Getting Good Legislative Candidates To Run and Win
In America’s representative democracy, the quality of our legislatures is in our control. It is not on autopilot, not a matter of chance, and not managed by a closed group of elites—at least if we don’t let it be. Rather, even a few citizens with informed expectations can identify, recruit, and support quality future representatives.
I’ve been reminded of these truths recently because of two local potential situations: my current state house representative is eyeing a promotion to the state senate, and a regional U.S. House seat may soon be open by its incumbent eyeing the U.S. Senate. Both have exhibited some evidence of a “senioritis”-like redirection of attention and activity, so it’s not too early to think about replacements. My 30-year home is in the state house district, and the U.S. House district includes the region where I was born and raised. I also helped three different U.S. House members represent parts of that district (under different district lines) in my early professional years in Washington, D.C. The two likely vacancies provide opportunities for early action that can shape a path to good, effective, and lasting representation. Your thoughtful nudging can make a difference.
Maneuvering Has Started Already
Most successful candidates for office won’t wait until the April 2026 filing deadline for fall general elections. They’re weighing things now. While candidates self-select by criteria both silly and sound, it’s better for candidates, and persons wanting to influence people to be candidates, to think things through. What makes a good representative for this seat at this time? What type of person can “thread the needle” of representing the greatest number of persons and interests in a district, while maintaining sufficient party support to win primary and general elections and work well in the legislative body to which one is elected?
What Makes a Good Legislative Candidate?
The best legislative candidates may not be those with the most money, ambition, or name recognition. In fact, those factors may be counterproductive to good legislative service. The fact that we have so many supplicant show horses and so few well-grounded workhorses in legislatures today shows the dilemma of modern party politics. Study and experience, however, point to a clear set of characteristics that consistently leads to effective legislative representation at both the state and national levels.
1. Demonstrated Connection To Local Roots, Values, and Expectations
Effective legislators are deeply connected to their districts. The best candidates will have lived there a good portion of their lives. They will listen well to all factors and factions, reflect local values, and enjoy engaging with the diverse perspectives of constituent groups. Their proposed legislative agendas will focus on district needs that can be addressed through work in the legislative body to which they aim.
2. Appreciate Policy and Process
Not every legislative candidate needs to be a policy wonk, but every good legislator knows that legislatures are one single policy-making body, not an assembly of posture-taking individuals. Legislatures, and constituents, benefit far more the work horses. The most effective legislators have both “hard” substantive knowledge and “soft” procedural skills, and know how to find others with the same skills to join them to do the legislative job.
3. Persistent in Getting the Whole Loaf A Few Slices At A Time
Each individual legislative success depends on the ability to deal with equals—to compromise—to get something done. An effective legislative career is built on persistence, the strategy and drive to string together agreements in an intentional direction. Effective representatives are also willing to work on specific issues with those who may not be naturally broad-based allies.
4. Consistent In Constituent Attention and Service
A strong representational record is built on a long-term foundation of constituent attention and appreciation. Media attention in legislative capitals like Lansing and Washington, D.C. may have glamour and attraction. But helping individual constituents and local interests navigate government agencies, resolve bureaucratic issues, and access needed services solves actual public problems and builds trust and loyalty.
How Does One Become a Candidate in Michigan? Gatekeepers and Barriers
Becoming a candidate for the Michigan State House is quite simple, and for U.S. House of Representatives only a bit more complicated. It’s not rocket science.
1. Basic Legal Eligibility and Filing Requirements
Michigan state legislative candidates must meet basic age, residency, and citizenship requirements. There is some paperwork to file and a bit more when money starts to be raised for a campaign. Federal offices allow for an official “testing the water” period, where one can explore a candidacy without all the paperwork requirements of fully becoming a candidate. There is no official “testing the water” period at the state level, at least officially, although informally the term is used quite frequently. Collecting petition signatures is one way to gain ballot access, but for most state-level offices an easier alternative is paying a small fee. Petition circulation is mandatory for U.S. House candidates, but the signature amount required is reasonable.
2. Gatekeepers and Informal Barriers
One reason there is so much foment in American politics is that the traditional candidate gatekeeping is so weak. Local political parties try to find and encourage competent people they know who align with their values to run for office. But political parties have such a poor reputation and in fact very few unique assets for modern campaigns that this often does not work. Civic organizations and community groups also identify and support candidates they know about within their networks, but these places are also shrinking in size and number as well. Prominent individuals can encourage others to run or decide to do so themselves, but in most of these cases building a broader social network has to start almost from scratch.
3. There Is No All-Powerful “They”
With formal gatekeeping weak, the main barrier is the illusion that a shadowy “they” somewhere control all critical access. There are “theys” out there, but there is no all-controlling “they” now, if there ever was. Although the process can look more daunting to newcomers than it is, especially those without experience, it is an amazingly open one.
Encouraging the Right People to Run
The core tasks of local representation—listening, reflecting local values, advancing district interests, and sticking with one’s geographic base—require dedication, empathy, love for the work, and a genuine commitment to public service. Each of us probably knows a person or two like that, and we should encourage individuals who embody these qualities to step forward to run for the nomination of the party of their choice. This means reaching out to such people, nudging them forward, supporting their candidacies, and building useful networks that can aid campaigns from the early planning stages until Election Day.
By starting early, focusing on the candidate characteristics that suggest legislative excellence, and lowering barriers to entry, we can increase the odds our next legislators are truly representative, effective, and loyal to the people they serve—work horses committed to long term constituent interests not show horses committed short term national fads.