Who am I?
It’s something we all need to figure out. It can be particularly helpful if you are planning to run for office.
That was one of the conversational threads a couple of “First Thursdays” ago when five local women reflected on their experiences as political candidates.
The session at the Clark County Historical Museum included Connie Kearney, who in 1976 was the first woman elected as a Clark County commissioner; Nan Henriksen, who in 1983 was the first female elected as mayor of Camas; Sandra Day, Ridgefield city councilor; Pat Jollota, former Vancouver city councilor; and Martha Martin, East County Fire & Rescue commissioner.
Henriksen and Jollota also were among 15 freeholders who wrote the county’s home-rule charter. As a result, three people (at last count) recently announced their candidacies for chair of a revamped county council.
As the politicians on the museum panel explained, it’s one thing to put your name on a ballot. Deciding what name to put on a campaign button or banner — or what to use in a slogan or radio commercial — can be a whole other proposition.
” ‘Connie Kearney for county commissioner’ is kind of a tongue-twister,” Kearney noted.
She decided to go with “Connie for commissioner.”
Henriksen ran for office in Camas during an era when many people felt it was inappropriate to elect a woman as mayor.
“Sadly,” Henriksen said, “many of them were other women.”
Bad ad, good results
Convinced that the time was right for her leadership, Henriksen needed only six letters to make her successful campaign-button pitch: “Nan now.”
Jollota’s city council campaign played on her last name to create what she called “the world’s worst radio commercial.”
It must have had something going for it, though, since Jollota had a 20-year stint on the Vancouver city council.
The hook was: “We think a whole lotta Jollota.”
“Absolutely awful,” Jollota judged. “But … “
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
