Have YOU ever lost an election?

I've lost a primary and a general election back when I ran for town council in 2001.

You do get over it.

:shrug:

which means I also won an election!

Haven't had the guts to run for public office yet.
Good for you for running!!!!!!!!!

in third grade, the teacher asked that students who thought they were capable of representing our class in the student council line up along the chalk board.

some of the more popular kids were the first to get up, sure they'd win.

then at the persistent encouragement of the girl who shared my desk, who assured me she would vote for me, i got up in front of my class.

i figured, yeah, i could represent, do i have any friends? no. do i have excessively hairy arms not only for a girl but for any child? yes- hell, my arms were hairy enough to be men's arms, but did that stop me? no.

i got up in my jamz shorts and mulletesque 1980s-bayou-rat hair-do and proudly stood 2nd-to-last in line, between the two smartest girls in the class, with an assuring grin any politician would be envious of. the teacher went down the 12- 8-year-old long chalkboard with her hand over each child's head as she asked for a raise of hands as votes.

5 for little kenny- the cutest, 7 for tricia- the wittiest, 8 for stacy- the prettiest, 3 for roland- an average guy, 2 for sam, who had just moved there from the city and therefore who no one liked, 5 for andrew, who was considered "nerdy" but who had three 1st cousins in the class, and so on...

finally, the teacher got to me. i grinned and waved enthusiastically, but was not allowed to give a speech to rouse my voters.

not one. single. hand.

in fact, kids were SO enthusiastically opposed to me that they tucked their hands underneath their desks to symbolically tell me they did not want me to represent them (read: they did not like me)- even the girl who insisted i go up there. i was the only kid to not get a single vote in a tyrannical demockracy in which multiple votes were allowed (and in retrospect, i suppose i could have contested the results and campaigned on election reform).

i whimpered, "...mrs. boudreaux, may i vote for myself?" "yes, you may," she replied coldly.

it was perhaps my first taste of humility, my first taste of defeat, my first taste of the painful opposite of popularity. i felt like mike gravel, i felt disenfranchised, i felt that my teacher had deliberately allowed for such a humiliation, but i had to suck it up and move on, knowing more than ever that i wasn't just unpopular, but for some unknown reason, was despised.

and i was a pretty nice kid!! i mean- i voted for every single one of my opponents and was the ONLY candidate to do so!

oh e"L"ection...

Student Council Treasure, I was devastated for days. Endless crying. My mom couldn't console me at all.







Wait, nah, I totally got over a minute later. I liked the person that did win, and then I lost the same position again to her a couple of years later.

Fortunately, I regenerate the ones I lose.

The cartwheel and sing-along gaps were left unfilled and the idea of a student agricultural collective lay fallow.

I ran for president of my labor union and got so stressed about it I waked into the ballot place and voted for my opponent. Sadly, I won by a landslide, a 2-1 margin, and held the post for 12 months.

First time was at middle school. School ran it as an exercise in democracy during the General Elections. I was one of four candidates and came in dead last.

Second time was at secondary school for the school council. The first year I was "appointed" but had to re-run for subsequent years. I lost.

Third time was at university - Student Council. Similar situation with school - I was "appointed" in my "fresher" year - sat out year 2, ran in 3rd year and came dead last again.

My base split evenly with an opponent who, like me, did not make it to the runoff.

I also lost my bid for President of the NHS, but that was more of a whim - last second threw my hat in the ring because I hated one of the two people running.

I ran for vice president of my elementary school in 5th grade. It was the first time the school had student officers, so I guess I have that going for me. I remember the campaign I ran was against a buddy of mine, Robby Williams. I won pretty easily, I recall, but I was impeached of my power and kicked out of office. :(

There was a campaign to get me to run for president in 6th grade, but I didn't think I could win, so I sat that one out.

It was that Juiceboxgate scandal that did you in, and we all know it!

the second time I ran I refused to have my supporters around me. I went to a jazz club with my husband and said that I would see the results in the morning papers. Election night was probably one of the worst nights of my life both times and I won!

I remember the first time I ran and my supporters were gathered at my house and some were coming back from the polls with the results. I didn't win a particular district losing it to someone who one of my supporters also liked (we were electing 3 council members) I think I almost killed that supporter...I was so pissed....and remember ...I won.

I don't think it would have been a pretty sight if I lost.

By a show of hands I was "elected" jury foreman once.

Also by a show of hands at a city council meeting I was once elected chairman of the city planning commission for a two year term.

:D

finished 4th among 4. The top three win. Oh well, I am waaaaaaay too liberal for this area... and I got the Democratic nomination by answering a newspaper ad after the official nominee moved to another state in the middle of the campaign (!). I had to beat out another guy for the nomination to replace the drop-out and that was exciting. Two Dems run against two Repubs in our system.... and the top three vote getters win. This is an overwhelmingly Republican county and I ran a decent 4th.

and he lost to a llama.

The llama didn't win, but my friend came in below the llama in votes.

Now that's gotta smart!

sorry :)

the Dalai Llama is a formidable candidate.

but got my Republican roommate elected on a write-in campaign.

Just out of curiosity.

I was supporting Carter and the college crowd was going for Kennedy.

That's my current stomping grounds! Although I actually live in the 46th, myself.

You'll be glad to know that Penn went for Obama 72% to 20-some odd percent for Clinton. This, despite 7 Clinton family visits (including wrapping up the campaign at Penn with the whole family AND Nutter AND Rendell).

We worked hard for Obama here and it was nice to see that reflected in the numbers.

*Edited: With record turnout, I should add!

Among others...

Student council VP and then Pres the next year. :)

That one still hurts.

the only offices I've ever run for have been for 'jobs' that no one else wanted--i.e. PTA President and such! Lots of 'offices' like that! heh

to an in experienced but very popular boy

Oh was she pissed

:hugs:

:P

I voted against myself.

I ran a campaign for city council for someone. Granted she was an unknown, blind woman with no experience. We got almost 1000 votes.

Insurgent campaign for college student body president. I didn't expect to win.

and good to have you back.

:toast:

and a practice called "ratfucking"? Oh yeah--that was me.

Nah, I'm just kidding. I've never run for office.

in easy-to-swallow pill form. bob dole liked it so much he became a spokesperson.

However I actually won that election and the band director had a Jake clause that if I won the second place finisher would win. I know because I counted the votes and I had 50% in a 3 way race.

We didn't get along and I was a trouble maker in his eyes. I know how Al Gore and Kerry feel on a micro scale.

I also lost the election to VP of the debate team but that was a legit loss. I was the questioner and the best and I was in charge of preparing speakers before debates. They dreaded it and none of the speakers would vote for me because of their "treatment" in preparation. However they were never caught off guard in a debate against real opponents :evilgrin:

I ran for Township Clerk against a 20+ year incumbent. I didn't do poorly, but second place is...um...the same as sixth.

I organized Udall's 1976 campaign in Pennsylvania and placed 5th in my district (the top 3 got to go to New York). I had better luck running Ted Kennedy's Pennsylvania campaign in 1980. But, with Reagan's election I got burned out and turned down a request from John Glenn to work his 1984 campaign. Haven't worked one since.

It is no fun losing an election. It feels like a terrible personal insult, and for a few days you feel like you are never gonna find where "up" is located--that is once you are rested enough to climb out of bed and CARE. You write all the "thank you's" that are owed to people for stuff done and money given in the final days and you collect all the yard signs that your campaign put out at polling places.

Then you pull your socks up and start living like a normal person again. Suddenly you realize you don't have to BE anywhere at a specific time and you don't have to go out knocking on doors. You don't have to carry walk lit everywhere with you, and you can actually go out of the house with your hair less than perfect while wearing sweatpants. You get to clean out your car truck and put all the signs in the garage (cause you NEVER throw those away!) and you archive all your computer files of graphics and donor lists.

Suddenly you get to go to your kid's ballgames and you start to cook real food in your house. That mountain of laundry starts to reduce and the yardwork starts coming under control. One day you look around and realize you have, indeed, become a normal person again.

Then a few months later some asshole calls you up and asks you to run again for some other office. IF you actually WON your election you get to rest up for a bit and then run for re-election all over again.

----

I can only imagine how it must feel for people running at the higher levels. The let down must be enormous and at that level the feeling of personal rejection must be terrible. I can barely deal with it at County level, I think it takes a very special breed, indeed, to run much beyond that.

YMMV.



Laura

I lost a race for state representative in 1990.

In 2006, I withdrew from a congressional primary, but my name remained on the ballot, even though I had suspended active campaigning 2 months earlier.

On the other hand, I've won three Democratic primaries and three general elections for the NH House, and a race for the Manchester Board of Aldermen. I also, strangely, was written in as the nominee for county prosecuting attorney in '06, but I declined the nomination.

in 5th grade at my elementary school. ;) I took it very seriously. I went to the Mondale campaign headquarters and got all kinds of stickers, signs and information and blanketed the school with them. We still lost. I was heartbroken. :D

I've won two of the three I've run so far. That loss really smarted. Due to that experience my admiration for Hillary's strong showing yesterday was HUGH!!11!! I couldn't've made it through that speech without breaking down. All I can say about her speech and its delivery yesterday is: YOU GO GIRL!!

Julie

After 12 years as a councilperson, I lost 61:39 to a guy who really had no clue. He quit after one term.

But I am 3:1, so I shouldn't snivel.

Beaten like a borrowed mule - and the GOP ran a mudslinging campaign even at this lowest of levels - I have last laff tho, as my Mid-Michigan county (John Engler's home) is trending Dem more and more!

for all of us.

I SWEAR!!!!

Yay for me! :bounce:

I ran for school's student body vicepresident in 5th grade, and for president in 6th grade. Lost both.

Got elected class president in 7th, and lost in 10th.

In the University I ran for faculty representative to the student body assembly and lost by 12 votes (out of nearly 1000 cast).

So, I've basically lost 80% of the races I've been in. :D

But after picking myself up off the proverbial floor, I was able to work with my former opponent in various ways.

Long ago, as a college student, I ran for a position on SASU. I was late getting prepared, and thus ran as a "write-in" candidate. Perhaps my campaigning was not clear enough, because I did not win the office I was hoping for. However, I did get enough write-in votes to get an office I had not run for.

But I didn't really want the job; somebody asked me to accept the nomination and I did.

:mad:

I remember it being a huge deal at the time. Now I could honestly care less. Funny how that works.

:(

I've won a primary and lost a general and was disqualified once because I had not been a registered Democrat long enough. :-)

Student council rep in 3rd and 4th grade

I was Student Council VP in 7th grade

Lost the bid for Student Council President in 8th grade

And I never ran for office again. Mainly because my parents said I would lose student council president because I was a double minority at an all white school, and it was their opinion the students would never elect me. They were right, and I decided to never run again.

I was inconsolable for days, not necessarily because I lost, but because I wanted to prove my parents wrong and think better of my classmates.

I had classmates ask me in high school to run for stuff, and told them NO, never again.

ASU ACLU vice-president, several years ago. I ran unopposed.

the winner had a bigger budget and gave everyone in the club campaign pins. And she had more posters