We pointed recently to a study that showed that incumbency was still the greatest indicator of whether one will get elected or not? But what if, especially on the local level, there is no stepping stone like Councilman to State Senator? Where do you start?
That would be by joining city and regional commissions, and one of the most common, serving as an aide to a council member or state legislator.
One local Councilman currently serving the City of Las Vegas, NV wants to do away with all of that, shall we say, “pre-incumbency?”
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
…a former state legislator, wants to ban influential appointed employees and members of the Planning Commission from running for City Council.
The idea, he says, is to prevent special assistants to council members, formerly called liaisons, and planning commissioners from leveraging their professional influence into campaign cash and political power.”
But why, Councilman Bob Coffin, why?
The Review-Journal may have the answer to that (italics are ours):
Coffin, whose opponents in the Ward 3 race last year included Adriana Martinez, then a liaison to Ward 1 Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, and Steve Evans, then a planning commissioner, said he, too, heard from potential donors who felt uneasy going on-record with contributions.
Click here for the whole article.
Do you think that by banning this kind of stepping stone, would it be more difficult to attract candidates for office–or easier?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
Image via lindz graham
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