Thinking about running for office?

How to run for office: ©Microgen - stock.adobe.com

In recent history, doctors have been behind lawyers and other professions in participating in politics, but physicians who hold elected office say that’s changing.

They also have plenty of advice for their physician peers about getting involved in the political process.

Find a good reason

“Try to figure out why you want to run,” said Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (D-California). “What’s driving you to run? And then think about where you could have most impact.”

“Be clear on your motivations,” said Illinois state Rep. Bill Hauter, M.D. “Do you have something that you want to change? You want that to motivate you because it is service.”

Physicians are respected members of the community, but that’s not enough to win an election. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Public Opinion Strategies researched public perception of physician candidates for the American Medical Association Political Action Committee (AMPAC). The research said: “A physician candidate must be more than just their occupation & work experience. There are clearly elements of being a physician that resonate very well with voters, but just ‘being a doctor’ is not enough.”

Get educated

AMPAC operates annual Political Education Programs and counts among its “all-stars” Bera and Ken Moore, M.D., the elected mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. The campaign school “will mold you into a winning political strategist and help you elect friends of medicine,” by using a simulated campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. AMPAC also has published its doctors-as-candidates research online.

Shadow legislators to build relationships and get a feel for what their lives are really like. “That’s good advice for any physicians, whether you’re going to run for office or not,” said Oregon state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, M.D., who now is running for state treasurer. “Most legislators don’t know much about health care and they really value having a couple of physicians who are their constituents to talk with them about the issues that they’re seeing on a day-to-day basis.”

Start locally, like the town council or school board

But understand: “They’re tough jobs because they’re very personal,” said Hauter, who first was elected to his county’s governing board. “People know you, know your kids. And on a school board level, you’re dealing with people’s children. It can be a really tough job, but it’s a way to start seeing how it is, and not only be elected to office, but to interact with other elected officials on how decisions are made, and to ask questions and to see what it takes.”

Make the time

Physicians firstly should run their practices and do the best job they can for their patients, then make time for political activities, said Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), now the longest tenured physician in Congress. “Carve out some extra time for some public service-related activities, doesn’t have to be running for Congress, but school board, city council,” he said. “Make sure you’re active. Make sure you attend political meetings, so people in political spheres know you and begin to build it that way.”

Don’t be intimidated

Minnesota state Sen. Alice Mann, M.D., M.P.H., first ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives and won. Then she had to show up at the capitol. “I thought, I’m going to be the dumbest person in the room. I don’t know how to write a law, I don’t know how a bill becomes a law in this state, I don’t know anything,” she said. “And when I got to that stage, I quickly realized that everyone is in the same boat as I was. We have carpenters and car salesmen and therapists and social workers and shoe store owners all now in the same space, and we’re all talking about ideas and writing laws together, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Prepare to be disappointed

No one likes to lose, and in contested races, voters pick just one winner. Even the winners have to compromise. “Being a legislator requires a lot of patience and a lot of tenacity and you have to be prepared to be disappointed a lot,” Steiner said. “It’s a good day if you get 75% of what you’re asking for, what you’re hoping to get, and most of the time you don’t even get that. So, there’s frustration and you have to be prepared to deal with that.”

“Politics is not nasty,” Moore said, in spite of a fall 2023 campaign that drew national attention because of attacks from a challenger. “It may appear to be nasty on the surface, but it’s an important function for all of us in a democracy to participate. And in the past, too few physicians have participated in that process of helping elect leaders and also being a leader.”

Campaigning is not serving

Campaigning and serving in office are very different jobs.Lawmakers can make a deep dive on issues. Doctors as candidates must make their messages smart but short. “We condense a chapter in a textbook into a conversation with a patient,” said Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-Washington). “That’s kind of what you need to do, is take a bunch of knowledge and condense it into a bumper sticker instead of a detailed explanation, and you need to be able to communicate that through social media, TV, mail, et cetera.”

Get ready to grow

Schrier said in her first campaign, the prospect of debating an experienced candidate on television “just inspired sheer panic.” “Somebody told me this along the way, and it has absolutely proven true, that you learn, and you grow a lot when you try new things. Frankly, at the end of that campaign, whether I had won or lost, I would have liked myself better for having tried, learned these new skills, really stretched, been brave.”

Lead anyway

Doctors don’t need a government title to lead, so if you choose not to run, or run and lose, lead anyway. “You already have the biggest title that you will get. And don’t forget the power behind the title, and that is the title of being a doctor,” said California Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, M.D. “That title is what you need to lead your community. So do it and lead your community. Get involved in your local government. Show up. Make sure people understand the health outcomes, because when we don’t show up and educate them, there’s a lot of myths that are created because of our absence.”