I've been politically active since October of 2005, and let me tell you:  It's a whole different ball game when your name is the one on the ballot.

I knew things were going to get interesting when I discovered, via a neighbor, that I'd attracted at least two trolls.  One of them was commenting on this article as a "concerned parent" . . . and I really don't need to go too much further down that road.  The other was cherry-picking my commentary history here on RightMichigan, then stringing the selective quoting together to say something that I plainly did not say (of course sensationalizing it to make me look like a dangerously corrupt career politician who should be stopped before he ever sees public office), and spreading his conclusions around to any voters in the district who would listen to him.

With regard to trolls, I tend to treat them much like any other critic.  I usually have far better things to do with my time than read, let alone respond to, critics who are more interested in starting an argument or using flawed logic than they are in getting honest answers to their questions.  And, quite frankly, the more time I waste dealing with either critics or trolls, the less time I have to get anything productive accomplished.

In setting up my campaign, I talked with several friends who have some experience running campaigns for advice as to how best to proceed.  I pulled the voter list from the County Clerk (total of 41,766 registered voters in the district), sorted it by precinct, filtered it a bit (no sense in going after voters who have, at best, a 50-50 record of showing up for elections), and tightened up 27 separate precinct walk-lists (which would also double as mailing lists).  Those same friends steered me toward some people who might be willing to back me financially . . . and many did.

I also managed to recruit several volunteers (18, to be exact) and coordinated a beautiful canvass effort so that every single targeted door (all 4,650 of them) was reached an average of twice during the 28 days between the voter registration deadline (April 4th) and the election day (May 3rd).  On the morning of the election, I was fairly confident that I had at least an even chance at meeting my primary objective . . . that of finishing not third.

I had identified early on an issue that I successfully managed to make into the key campaign issue:  In the budget for the 2010 - 2011 academic year, KPS tapped into a $12.2 million budget surplus for $2.5 million . . . in order to fund continuing operations for the year (as opposed to paying off any debts, funding any particular special project, or covering an emergency need); yet at the board meeting of March 14th, during a discussion of how the proposed state budget might impact the district's finances, a "worst-case" scenario of a $10 million deficit was mentioned.  I viewed that as a problem, and I thought that it needed to be addressed right away from a proactive, preventive, and preemptive mindset.  Nearly every voter that I spoke with felt the same way.

On election night, the Kent County Families For Fiscal Responsibility (KCFFR), who were opposing The Rapid's 31% millage increase request, were hosting a party at the downtown Peppino's.  As my campaign had also encouraged voters to oppose this millage, and since it was a better idea than hanging out at home, Christie and I opted to attend the party.  The Richard Stewart for GRCC, Frank Murin for GRCC, Chris Jurrians for GRPS, and David Clark for GRPS campaigns were also in attendance.  All of us were diligently monitoring the returns for our individual races.

Unfortunately, this wasn't my turn to win.  In the Kentwood Public School Board race first place (Mimi Madden) was settled fairly early in the evening.  However, second place (Angie Forton) didn't get decided until midnight, which was when the four Grand Rapids precinct boards reported in.  In the final analysis, my margin of defeat was a mere 192 votes (just over 3 % of the total votes cast).  I think what annoyed me more was that only 6,342 total votes were cast, which - given that "vote for not more than two" was the ballot instruction - amounts to participation by about 7.6 % of the total registered voter population of the district.

It's really tempting to woulda, coulda, shoulda this thing to death; but Monday-morning quarterbacking isn't going to change the results any.  On May 24th, the day after the campaign finance books closed, I debriefed the campaign with my staff.  We put together about a page and a half worth of lessons learned that I can apply to any campaign that I might choose to get involved in further down the road.

There is a rumor running loose within the Kentwood Education Association that I'm going to try this again next year, and right now I have no reason to quell it.  However, since it isn't Thanksgiving Weekend yet, I also don't have to make a decision either.  (And some campaign contributions are already coming in, with a 2012 run specifically in mind.)

I'll keep you posted.