How To Run For Office

Show notes and Key Time Stamps: 00:00 Podcast Introduction 01:50 How Dr. Mark Campbell got started in politics 03:16 There is No Job Too Small 10:00 The Interstate 80 Lesson - Very Important!! 13:25 Winning Iowa by Targeting Voters, not Demographics 17:08 How did you help train leaders in emerging democracies? 20:06 What services do you provide campaigns through Intellz? 22:00 The importance of a concise message 23:20 How many votes and how many dollars do you need to win? 24:28 Don’t take any vote for granted! 26:38 How to Build your Ground Game 30:22 How do you pick your clients? 31:30 Advice for Young People wanting to get involved in politics 35:27 Talking you OUT of running for Office 39:28 What are some of the first things candidates need to do before launching their campaign? 42:20 Explaining the issue matrix 44:46 Starting the Cruz for President Campaign 47:14 Learn the rules before the game starts! 50:09 Talk us through some common mistakes that you’ve seen candidates make 53:40 What do you look for when hiring campaign staff? 56:22 Mark Campbell runs for School Board 57:56 What kind of advice would you give your younger self? 1:00:19 Where can people find Mark Campbell online? 1:01:22 Mark’s parting words and outro

Rick Green’s Legacy is Going to Be Training Patriots and Equipping Future Candidates for Public Service. Today’s interview is a special one for me because I’m talking with somebody who has had an enormous impact on my career. His recommendation shortly before I graduated opened the door to my first job and his mentorship has been of incalculable value to me both before and after that point. Rick Green an attorney, author, former elected official, father, mentor, radio host, inspirational speaker, and soon he going to be a grandfather. The work that Rick and his family have done to promote our nation’s founding principles has been a great source of energy within the conservative movement. Beyond the incredible family that Rick and his beautiful bride Kara have raised, I believe his greatest legacy is going to be the organization that first cemented our friendship, Patriot Academy. Over the 14 years that Patriot Academy has been training patriots, they’ve turned out hundreds of motivated, principled conservatives who are impacting policy and campaigns across the country. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Rick on Twitter and Facebook! Check out the Patriot Academy website as well as RickGreen.com for more info about what Rick and his amazing family are up to. Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: [00:00] Podcast Introduction [00:50] Rick Green Background [02:52] How Rick Green became involved in Politics [07:00] What was it like becoming a State Representative at 27 years old? [08:41] How do I know if I should wait before running for office? [17:40] What are some of the top lessons you learned during your time in the State House? [24:24] How did Patriot Academy come about and why did you start it? [29:58] How big is Patriot Academy at this point? [31:51] What can I learn at Patriot Academy? [37:42] Can people still apply to attend Patriot Academy this year? [45:28] How Patriot Academy can help you [52:19] Where can people connect with Rick Green online? [54:36] Final words of Wisdom from Rick Green [56:30] Adios and outro Rick Green’s Legacy is Going to Be Training Patriots and Equipping Future Candidates for Public Service. Today’s interview is a special one for me because I’m talking with somebody who has had an enormous impact on my career. His recommendation shortly before I graduated opened the door to my first job and his mentorship has been of incalculable value to me both before and after that point. Rick Green an attorney, author, former elected official, father, mentor, radio host, inspirational speaker, and soon he going to be a grandfather. The work that Rick and his family have done to promote our nation’s founding principles has been a great source of energy within the conservative movement. Beyond the incredible family that Rick and his beautiful bride Kara have raised, I believe his greatest legacy is going to be the organization that first cemented our friendship, Patriot Academy. Over the 14 years that Patriot Academy has been training patriots, they’ve turned out hundreds of motivated, principled conservatives who are impacting policy and campaigns across the country. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Rick on Twitter and Facebook! Check out the Patriot Academy website as well as RickGreen.

This week’s guest is Chris Wilson, the former Director of Research and Analytics for the Ted Cruz for President campaign, where he oversaw all polling, data analytics, modeling and digital strategy. Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: 00:00 Introducing Chris Wilson of WPA Intel 01:52 Chris, Tell us more about how you got started in politics and why political research and intelligence became your focus… 07:28 How has the Research, Polling and Intelligence game changed in the decades that you’ve been involved? 13:50 When you talk about “building political models,” what does that mean and what do you add to refine them? 17:36 How innovation within political Big Data is turning the focus of politics back to the individual voter. 24:16 Using WPA’s Archimedes platform to plan Ted Cruz’s Presidential Campaign Schedule 25:27 How Ted Cruz won Iowa and Republicans will win 2018 32:27 As a new candidate, what should I look to when choosing a vendor or analyzing polling/analysis? (A dying battery forced Chris to change mics so we had some audio quality change) 35:30 Tell us more about the rebranding from WPA Research to WPA Intelligence and how you choose which clients you will take on? (Hint: they only take Conservatives!) 40:32 Where you can find Chris Wilson and WPA Intelligence online

00:00 Programming Note 00:37 Bumper Intro 01:01 Mick Paskiewicz Bio 01:46 Let’s start out with a bit of background information about your history and political involvement… 06:48 What does your relationship look like with your clients? 07:59 Red Team/Blue Team Analysis and use of the Vulnerability Study 10:34 What sets Intellz apart from other Research and Opposition Vendors on the market? 14:35 What are things that campaigns can do for themselves to get themselves ahead of the research/oppo curve? 21:36 Two ways to undercut your opposition 28:18 Why is a vulnerability study so key to preparing for a campaign, before it begins? 35:22 Key Lessons: Stand on Principle, Be Nice & Don’t Lie...and opposition research can’t hurt you! 37:42 Silver bullets are VERY rare 39:05 What are key warning signs that a campaign is in trouble? 41:26 Vetting your campaign staff: background checks and social media 44:48 What is your biggest client pet peeve? 47:59 What is it that excites you the most about your job at Intellz? 49:31 Where can people find you online? 50:04 Outro

Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: 00:00 Podcast Introduction 01:34 Cathy Scott Background and Political Advent 04:54 Lessons Learned on Cathy’s First Political Campaign 11:20 How did you get hooked up with the Konni Burton for Texas Senate Race? 15:44 Interviewing and joining the Burton Campaign 19:16 Setting the Burton Campaign up for Victory: Building the right Systems 33:06 What happened once other primary election candidates jumped in the race? 41:08 How did you handle the challenge of managing a field staff of over 20 people and vendors as someone who had never even had a single employee before? 49:09 What did you look for in campaign staff and how did you deal with letting ineffective staffers go? 57:28 Podcast Conclusion and Outro

00:00 Intro 00:26 Jon McClellan Bio 01:45 Jon’s background and political story 06:09 First experience volunteering for a Presidential Campaign 10:00 How did your work ethic and belief that ‘no job is too small’ help kickstart your career? 13:40 How did you make the transition from college to paying work in politics? 16:48 Working in the Texas Capitol 20:40 Joining Gov. Perry’s 2010 Re-Election Campaign 23:40 What did the Perry 2010 experience teach you about running statewide elections in Texas? 31:41 Joining the Cruz Crew 35:48 How did you go about building the core support among Texas’ Conservative leaders? 38:50 Building the Endorsement Snowball 41:50 Matching your Campaign Style to the Candidate 43:56 Duck Costume Story 48:54 How did y’all build such an effective statewide network and meet their needs? 57:26 In what ways did that network of relationships help you in your role as State Outreach Director for Senator Cruz? 59:56 Representing constituents even when you don’t agree with them 1:02:00 What are you doing now, with Public Blueprint? 1:08:42 What advice do you have for potential candidates or staff who are wondering what to do next? 1:11:00 Jonathan McClellan Contact info and Outro

00:00 Programming Note from Raz 00:55 Introduction and John Drogin Bio 02:24 Tell us about your background and what you did before crossing paths with Ted Cruz 11:59 How did you and Ted Cruz get connected? 19:02 How did y’all start building Cruz’s Senate campaign? 24:44 How did you build your campaign team, especially for such a long-shot run? 34:26 Tell us about that first year on the campaign trail. Building the strategy and the first phase of the campaign 37:58 The importance of letting people really get to know the candidate! 43:58 How Cruz secured critical PAC and SuperPAC endorsements 48:52 How did you bait Ducking Dewhurst into engaging? 54:30 How did you deal with the misleading attacks that the Dewhurst campaign deployed? 57:16 Once you won the Senate race, how did y’all build a strong, conservative Senate Staff? 1:04:52 What was your job as Cruz’s State Director and how did that mission build out? 1:08:54 What advice do you have for potential candidates and campaign staff? 1:10:24 Drogin’s contact information and outro

Learn about Opposition Research and Campaign Vulnerability Studies from the expert who ran Ted Cruz’s internal vetting! Today we’re talking about campaign intelligence and opposition research with the man responsible for quarterbacking the internal vetting and research of all staff, coalition members, endorsers, volunteer leaders and more on Ted Cruz’s Presidential campaign. John Lappe is a Chicago native, naturalized Texan and graduate of the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Intellz Opposition Research and Strategy. In that capacity, John leverages years of experience with campaigns of every level to craft winning narratives for candidates and the opposition research solutions necessary to ensure their success. The importance of their mission is embodied by a powerful quote from George Washington: “There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, and nothing that requires greater pains to obtain.” Prior to joining Intellz, John was the Assistant Executive Director of OpenTheBooks, a national government transparency organization that focuses on exposing waste, fraud and abuse by government units and agencies of all levels. John lives in Dallas, Texas with his bride Fiona and daughter Nora. Links from the Podcast: Connect with John on Facebook, LinkedIn or via the Intellz website! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: [00:00] Podcast Introduction [00:26] John Lappe Bio [01:45] Scaring people away from running for office! [05:28] How John got involved in politics [09:44] How Intellz got started [11:04] What approach do you and Intellz use when you’re doing your research? [13:01] The importance in telling a story [13:48] When did you decide that you wanted to work full-time in politics? [14:56] As a company, what does Intellz do in terms of political and corporate intelligence? [16:58] What does your normal working relationship with clients look like? [23:58] What is the interplay like between you, the candidate you’re working for and the general consultant? [25:58] Biggest client pet peeves [37:01] Tell us about what Intellz did for the Cruz campaign [43:04] What Candidates need to know about opposition research [46:02] Be Careful how you Use Oppo-Research [51:27] What are the top attributes that you look for when analyzing the health of a campaign? [56:22] How can potential candidates start preparing to run? [1:00:32] Is opposition research becoming more widely adopted across more sizes of races? [1:01:52] How is Facebook and less individual privacy going to impact opposition research and future campaigns? [1:07:40] Where can people find you online? Learn about Opposition Research and Campaign Vulnerability Studies from the expert who ran Ted Cruz’s internal vetting! Today we’re talking about campaign intelligence and opposition research with the man responsible for quarterbacking the internal vetting and research of all staff, coalition members, endorsers, volunteer leaders and more on Ted Cruz’s Presidential campaign. John Lappe is a Chicago native, naturalized Texan and graduate of the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Intellz Opposition Research and Strategy. In that capacity, John leverages years of experience with campaigns of every level to craft winning narratives for candidates and the opposition research solutions necessary to ensure their success. The importance of their mission is embodied by a powerful quote from George Washington: “There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy,

Electing Ted Cruz to the Senate was a monumental challenge, and Josh drove the digital campaign that made it happen! Today we’re talking to the man behind Ted Cruz’s social media success: Mr. Josh Perry. Josh is an alumni of the University of Texas at Austin and has been working full time in Conservative Politics since graduation. Prior to that, Josh was heavily involved with Young Conservatives of Texas, and using his free time to promote conservative causes. In January of 2011, Now Senator Cruz hired Josh when he was a long-shot up-start candidate with single digit name ID and only a few more digits in the campaign bank account. Josh has been with the Senator ever since: Through that first campaign, the intervening senate years, the Presidential Primary and now as the road to senate reelection begins. Through each of those chapters, Josh has been critical to the shape and direction of Cruz’s message, especially in the ever important digital realm. There’s so much that I want to cover with Josh that I think we’re probably going to have to bring him back for a follow-up episode later this year. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Josh on Twitter or Facebook! Check out the Chupacabra video ad that we mentioned! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: [00:00] Podcast Introduction [00:26] Josh Perry Bio [01:46] How did you initially get involved in politics? [04:58] Ted Cruz enters the story [07:22] Clarification: Sen. Hutchison ran for Governor in 2010 but did not vacate her Senate seat to do so. [07:40] Josh joins Team Cruz [08:39] How NOT to drive your candidate… [11:08] How did y’all look at social media as you came into the digital director role? [13:44] Ducking Dewhurst [16:40] How did you maximize coverage from earned media? [19:58] Go wherever your voters are! [25:32] How did y’alls new media usage and strategy evolve during the Senate Campaign? [30:26] Stories from the Campaign Trail [35:12] What was it like transitioning from working with a Candidate to an Elected Senator? [42:10] Closing thoughts & Outro Electing Ted Cruz to the Senate was a monumental challenge, and Josh drove the digital campaign that made it happen! Today we’re talking to the man behind Ted Cruz’s social media success: Mr. Josh Perry. Josh is an alumni of the University of Texas at Austin and has been working full time in Conservative Politics since graduation. Prior to that, Josh was heavily involved with Young Conservatives of Texas, and using his free time to promote conservative causes. In January of 2011, Now Senator Cruz hired Josh when he was a long-shot up-start candidate with single digit name ID and only a few more digits in the campaign bank account. Josh has been with the Senator ever since: Through that first campaign, the intervening senate years, the Presidential Primary and now as the road to senate reelection begins. Through each of those chapters, Josh has been critical to the shape and direction of Cruz’s message, especially in the ever important digital realm. There’s so much that I want to cover with Josh that I think we’re probably going to have to bring him back for a follow-up episode later this year. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Josh on Twitter or Facebook! Check out the Chupacabra video ad that we mentioned! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: [00:00] Podcast Introduction [00:26] Josh Perry Bio [01:46] How did you initially get involved in politics?

Zan Campbell is an accomplished leader knows campaign management well. Hear what he's learned through his military career and several successful campaigns! 00:00 Intro 00:26 Zan Campbell Bio 01:59 Tell us more about your political background and military service 04:02 How you first get involved with LG Bryant and his Senate campaigns? 05:24 Zan’s evolution from volunteer to Campaign Manager 07:11 The importance of knowing your district like the back of your hand 13:04 Why it’s critical that a candidate completely trust their Campaign Manager...and how to build that trust 17:07 Loyalty, Enthusiasm and Work Ethic on campaigns 23:44 Taking care of your volunteers 24:49 Finding the balance between frontline and management tasks when you’re in a leadership position 25:57 Don’t burn-out the next generation of volunteers and campaign staff! 27:54 Helping train future campaign operatives 32:37 What are some of the bigger challenges you’ve had to wrangle while managing campaigns? 42:59 How to deal with increasing polarization of voters (Hint: Focus on GOTV!) 46:43 How does that polarization impact your volunteer recruitment? 50:33 Character still matters. 54:36 Closing advice on getting involved in campaigns or as a candidate 55:23 Final thoughts and outro!

00:00 Apology for dropping the ball… 01:04 Intro 01:30 Luke Macias bio 02:42 Tell us about how you got involved in politics and how you got bit by the bug... 09:52 Luke’s evolution into a general consultant 12:38 The art of taking long-shot clients 17:14 What are some of the important early lessons you learned as you were volunteering and helping on campaigns? 20:08 Helping Identify good candidate for public office 22:36 Identifying lessons learned: learning from winning and losing 31:12 What are some of the personal attributes that you believe have helped you in being a good General Consultant 36:23 What are the major facets of your mission and purpose in politics? Further, how does that impact your day to day work with clients? 45:00 What does your working relationship with your clients look like? 51:46 What are some of the primary indicators you use to gauge the health of a campaign? 55:54 What should potential candidates be doing today in order to help prepare for their campaign? 1:02:54 What do you look for in potential campaign staff or official staff hires? 1:08:44 What advice would you give your younger self if you could do it all over again? 1:13:20 Luke’s contact info and outro

How did a Marine Corps Veteran and his Service Dog become the most powerful Lobbying team in DC? Today we’re doing a special episode with a two good friends of mine, Cole and Kaya Lyle. Both are a bit on the hairy side but Kaya is clearly the more lovable of the two. At this point it’s probably important for me to note that Kaya is Cole’s German Shepherd service dog and through the work that she’s done with Cole, members of congress are already calling her the most Powerful Lobbyist on the Hill. Cole grew up here in Texas and served in the Marine Corps for 6 years after he graduated High School. Since getting out, he’s completed an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and spent most of his free time lobbying to pass the PAWs act to help his fellow Veterans. I’ve got 2 primary reasons for having Cole and Kaya on today: Lobbying often gets a bad rap, and frequently deserves it, but the cause championed and means used determine the virtue of the enterprise. Cole and Kaya provide a refreshing example of how citizens can exercise influence for good within the halls of congress. Supporting our military and veterans is one of my great passions and I can’t think of a better way to do that than to help support the PAWs Act. Go to PAWsAct.com to sign the petition and keep listening to find out more about why this work is important Links from the Podcast: Connect with Cole on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the PAWs Act Website. Help support the PAWs Act and important Service Dog organizations: www.ServiceDogs4Vets.org Important Time Stamps and Descriptions: [00:00] Podcast Introduction [00:25] Cole and Kaya Lyle Introduction [02:02] Cole & Kaya’s background: Texas to Afghanistan to DC [05:10] Waiting on a Dog [07:45] Setting Goals and Getting involved in Politics [08:25] Cole’s Political Advent [12:50] Interning for Ted Cruz [17:25] Sen. Tillis & Kaya come up with the PAWs Act [18:55] Finding the Solution…not just the problem… [24:23] Now the PAWs Act is a real Bill!…It’s time to get to work… [35:18] How did you do all this while going to college? [39:05] 3 big lessons Cole learned from dealing with Elected Officials and their Staffs [46:15] The Future of PAWs Act and How YOU Can help! [49:05] Wrap-up and Show Outro How did a Marine Corps Veteran and his Service Dog become the most powerful Lobbying team in DC? Today we’re doing a special episode with a two good friends of mine, Cole and Kaya Lyle. Both are a bit on the hairy side but Kaya is clearly the more lovable of the two. At this point it’s probably important for me to note that Kaya is Cole’s German Shepherd service dog and through the work that she’s done with Cole, members of congress are already calling her the most Powerful Lobbyist on the Hill. Cole grew up here in Texas and served in the Marine Corps for 6 years after he graduated High School. Since getting out, he’s completed an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and spent most of his free time lobbying to pass the PAWs act to help his fellow Veterans. I’ve got 2 primary reasons for having Cole and Kaya on today: Lobbying often gets a bad rap, and frequently deserves it, but the cause championed and means used determine the virtue of the enterprise. Cole and Kaya provide a refreshing example of how citizens can exercise influence for good within the halls of congress. Supporting our military and veterans is one of my great passions and I can’t think of a better way to do that than to help support the PAWs Act. Go to PAWsAct.

00:00 Podcast Intro 00:40 Rep. Zolnikov Bio 01:37 Welcome to the Podcast, Representative! 02:30 What was your life like before politics? 03:54 At what point did you get involved in State politics? 04:50 What was your introduction to campaigning like? (Hint: Lots of Knocking Doors) 06:00 The Power of Knocking Doors 07:10 How did the individual relationships you built, going door to door, help you win your election and represent your district better? 09:42 Focus on the Voter! 13:56 How did your conversations with voters improve your broader marketing efforts? 18:14 The importance of using more than one medium of voter communication 19:58 Never take voters for granted 20:40 Tell us more about your parents fleeing Stalinist Russia 22:38 How did that background of fleeing communism impact your political view? 24:06 The importance of remembering the history of tyranny as we look forward at government 26:17 How did your main political issues develop for you, especially the issue of privacy? 29:11 Pretending to perfect isn’t going to work in politics anymore 31:44 How did the Montana fundraising limits impact your fundraising for your campaigns? 34:30 What kind of budget did you have for your race and how did you spend it? 37:43 Using paid campaign workers as a force multiplier 41:02 What does your campaign operation look like? 42:41 What was it like as a 25 year old to actually be in elected office? 47:14 What kind of advice would you give yourself when you started to run for office? 50:42 Where can people find you online? 51:58 Any closing words of wisdom for the listeners? 53:00 Outro

How Konni Burton got active, helped elect Ted Cruz and became an rockstar State Senator This week, we’re talking with my State Senator and long-time friend, Konni Burton! Konni will tell you that the most important parts of her bio are that she is foremost a wife, mom and life-long Christian. Next to those is the fact that she’s a native Texan! She and her husband Phil have two incredible daughters, Tori and Faith. We’ll cover her political background in depth during our talk so I won’t give away too much now but Konni’s journey from grassroots activist to State Senator is a case study in how we need more citizen leaders to grow. Konni is widely regarded as one of the most conservative members of the Texas State Senate and has been awarded a number of legislative awards from both fiscal and socially conservative organizations. I’m proud to count Konni among the alumni of my training and have loved getting to know and work with her over the nearly 8 years of our friendship. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Konni via her Website, Twitter or Facebook! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions [00:00] Podcast Intro [00:26] Sen. Konni Burton Bio [01:31] What was your political life before the TEA Party Movement? [04:03] What got you involved with the TEA Party here in North Texas? [06:39] Give us some history of your relationship with Sen. Cruz and helping get him elected in 2012 [09:53] What did Cruz’s 2012 race teach you about running for office? [12:43] At what point did you shift from helping others run for office to consider running yourself? [14:45] Running against Wendy Davis: The advantage of starting early! [17:24] How did you go about kickstarting your campaign and getting things rolling? [22:00] What factored into your choosing your consultant and campaign manager? [24:53] The importance of agreeing on First Principles with your staff [26:39] What did your campaign’s ground-game look like? [30:37] How did y’all leverage your early campaign start to build your ground game? [33:14] Don’t be afraid to run as a strong conservative! [35:53] What advice do you have for conservatives thinking about a first run for office? [38:08] Outro How Konni Burton got active, helped elect Ted Cruz and became an rockstar State Senator This week, we’re talking with my State Senator and long-time friend, Konni Burton! Konni will tell you that the most important parts of her bio are that she is foremost a wife, mom and life-long Christian. Next to those is the fact that she’s a native Texan! She and her husband Phil have two incredible daughters, Tori and Faith. We’ll cover her political background in depth during our talk so I won’t give away too much now but Konni’s journey from grassroots activist to State Senator is a case study in how we need more citizen leaders to grow. Konni is widely regarded as one of the most conservative members of the Texas State Senate and has been awarded a number of legislative awards from both fiscal and socially conservative organizations. I’m proud to count Konni among the alumni of my training and have loved getting to know and work with her over the nearly 8 years of our friendship. Links from the Podcast: Connect with Konni via her Website, Twitter or Facebook! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions [00:00] Podcast Intro [00:26] Sen. Konni Burton Bio [01:31] What was your political life before the TEA Party Movement? [04:03] What got you involved with the TEA Party here in North Texa...

Links from the Podcast Find Trey on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or via his Website! Important Time Stamps and Descriptions 00:00 Introduction 01:17 Trey Edwards Biography 02:17 How Trey got involved in politics and his campaign history 05:00 How Trey campaigned to kill taxes...He stopped over $200 MILLION in tax increases! 44:14 The importance of PLANNING 45:59 The two ways you can lose campaigns (Hint: One is better than the other) 49:13 What made the Tax Killing campaigns special 51:18 Using Trey’s Tax Killing as a Template 53:03 Where you can connect with Trey online 53:48 Outro