<p>How does one do this? I hear now all the time about college students getting to City Council in places such as College Park, MD and etc. How do you get started in that? When you get to college, do you have to change your permanent residence in order to satisfy the '1-year" requirment for most city councils? In short, how do these legendary people do it?</p>
<p>Um… in many places you have to be at least 21 to run for office… so the 1 year rule isn’t the biggie… however you would have to change your residence. You would just start a running for office, the only thing is you don’t have a very good chance of winning, especially if you live in a huge city. Then too, in most places you would have to be a city councilperson for 4 years–unless you resigned in which case everyone would know you just wanted the job for your resume. (Like if you could run sophomore year, won, resigned at the end of senior year-- and then went to graduate school somewhere else… having planned it all along.)</p>
<p>I would think that only a very small number of college students have run for City Council and won. It’s not as common as you think. You can try it, but your chances of winning are very slim.</p>
<p>Didn’t some guy just get elected mayor in Oklahoma who was a college freshmen?</p>
<p>Lots of young people seem to some how get themselves elected when they are just fresh in or out of college. Most of the most succesful modern politicians that I’ve researched were elected at super young ages. Examples:</p>
<p>Jason Rae, (~21): Dem. Superdelegate, Chair of Mil. Democratic Party. Age age 17 he defeated a State Assemblyman to become Chair of the city’s Democratic Party.</p>
<p>David Paterson: State Senator at Age 31</p>
<p>Bobby Jindal: Congressman at age 33, Age 25 Secretary of Louisiana Dept. of Health. Gov at 36.</p>
<p>Vincent Ignizio: Got elected to the New York State Assembly…at age 29. ***. Now at age 33 is a NYC City Council Member.</p>
<p>And those are just a few of the famous examples.</p>
<p>Honestly, my main question is, how do these people do it. They become Congressman in their 20s and early 30’s, and achieve positions that many people never are able to get close to achieving in their entire lives. How the heck?</p>
<p>Also, I’m doubting that people would trust someone who had only lived in their city for a year to be in the city council.</p>
<p>That’s the point. How do people who have never stepped foot in a city before jump into the city council? How do they beat people who have lived in the city for 40 years, who have been in the State Legislature, who have made themselves known as community organizers?</p>
<p>^ That’s why they’re in the news. Because they are exceptional.</p>
<p>Very true :(</p>
<p>So, does anyone have advice? I’m getting books exactly for this issue too but I’m unsure when they will arrive.</p>
<p>Also, as a side note, in most places you 21 isn’t the neccesary age to run. Most city’s say that 18 is the minimum age, and 18 is also the minimum age to run for the State Legislature or State Senate. However, I never heard in history of a person getting to the State Senate when they are 18, not even that Jason Rae guy, so that I believe is primarily ceremonial.</p>
<p>Whatever. I’ll consult some books and political insiders/politicians I know and am friends with and then run anyway once in college. People are simply too afraid to break with tradition and ageism, but that’s why they don’t get elected.</p>
<p>Youth get elected all the time to state assemblies, city councils, and school boards. The only reason they fail is because they screw themselves.</p>
<p>There is an 18 year old mayor right now in Hillsdale, Michigan. He was elected by write-in and he did it by personally going door to door to talk to each family.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow, what a freaking legend o_o</p>
<p>My city is deep in with machine politics so that could never happen in my city personally. It has one of the oldest and most powerful political machines in the country behind Chicago and NYC.</p>
<p>[List</a> of the youngest mayors in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_youngest_mayors_in_the_United_States]List”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_youngest_mayors_in_the_United_States)</p>
<p>Wow, some kid got elected Mayor when he was 11 years old.</p>
<p>^ i don’t think having an 11 year old mayor can turn out very well…</p>
<p>Reading would probably help. I’m not sure how many of these people have written about their life and how it happened, but i know Senator Joseph Biden has. In his book “Promises To Keep” he talks about exactly how he was elected to the Senate at the very tender age of 29 (he had to wait to be sworn in). This is much more useful than guessing about random political figures accomplished those impressive feats.</p>
<p>Side note: who WANTS to be like Jason Rae, anyway? During his 15 minutes of fame on the news he seemed a bit like a prick.</p>
<p>I got a book called “Running for Local Office” written by some big-city Mayor where he gives all the tips about that, and also another one called “Running for State and Local Office” by some person who was head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee too. Though I haven’t read em in full yet, I intend to. I’ll look into Biden’s book too - thanks!</p>
<p>I actually never have seen Jason Rae on TV, but based off his facebook where I’m friends with him on, he seems a little bit so.</p>