(Page 9 of 28) - Campaign Best Practices: Do They Work? authored by Brooks, Stephen., Marion, Nancy. and Farmer, Rick.

candidate who had children going to schools in the district. A brochure highlighting her
qualifications cnd also be found in the appendix.

Issues

Issues frequently determine how people vote in an election. They help to define

one candidate from another (Faucheux, 1998a:ix; Scher, 1997; Ehrenhalt, 1991:252).
Candidates need to know their positions on issues (Bike 2001: 136), and they should have
multiple issues (Bike, 2001:138). Although the school districts are very different, the
dominant issue in both campaigns was the nature of school funding. Schools in Ohio rely
heavily on local property taxes forcing local school districts to run levy campaigns on a
regular basis. In North Canton, funding concerns were heightened the possibility of a
major manufacturing company (and property tax contributor) closing its doors. Beyond
that, issues in North Canton were limited because the school system is so successful.
Voters just want to keep their schools strong and want board members who will
accomplish that.

Because the nature of the Akron district voters, the issues in the campaign were

more varied. The general concern of school funding was intensified because this election
also contained a school levy vote and candidates were questioned about their support of
the levy. As the Akron district was so large, candidates found that each area of the city
had its own set of issues. As described above, this candidate wanted to address the image
of the district as an issue which encompassed many of the voters’ concerns. Both
candidates felt that while issues were important voters would be making their decisions
on more general concerns. Therefore they did not spend much time addressing specific
solutions but tried to convince voters that they were up to the task of solving problems as
they arise. The Akron candidate did have some policy papers on his web site and, when
asked, would refer voters to those documents.

Image

A candidate’s image is important to voters. At the start of the campaign,

candidates need to re-evaluate their wardrobe. If it is found to be inadequate or does not
help to present the image people expect of an elected official, the candidate needs to buy
other clothes (Strother, 1999:180). For male candidates, long hair and beards should be
removed as they are an automatic turn off to many voters (Guzzetta, 2000:147).
Candidates for office should dress formally (Simpson, 1996:67) and be well groomed
(Bike, 2001:63). They should not drink, or only very little (Bike, 2001:62). In addition,
a successful candidate should not appear alone at functions. He or she should have
supporters around, to project the image of a successful candidate (Simpson, 1996:67).
Both candidates appeared alone at many functions throughout the campaign.

The Akron candidate was advised by his campaign manager about his style of

dress. Being a college student, his clothes were more informal, and he was advised to
purchase some new clothes for the campaign. In addition, he was advised to always dress
nicely, no matter if he was going to classes or going to a campaign function. In fact,
those around him noticed he did dress nicer for those months. This candidate felt that his
age helped to distinguish him from others. He was “a change” from the typical school
board member. The next youngest candidate was approximately fifteen years older, in
his mid-30s.

The North Canton candidate, being a professional female, had an appropriate

wardrobe prior to the campaign. She would try to be professional for most campaign
appearances. The campaign staff (volunteers or family) purchased t-shirts with the
candidate’s name on them to wear campaigning and to different functions. Usually, the