Political newcomer finds NDTC training crucial to kickstarting her campaign for school board
10 min
Laura Judge has been a Georgia resident for 20 years, living in Cobb County for the last ten. A Navy veteran, mother, and former leader with Moms Demand Action, Judge was no stranger to taking action.
So, when the Cobb County School Board Post 5 position opened after 16 years, Judge seized the opportunity. She filed to run for office.
Judge’s decision to run for office was influenced by “my children most importantly, but also my community wasn't receiving the communication necessary around the COVID-19 pandemic to safely go back into the school building. Through further interactions, I found out there were more issues than just communication.” Judge found her community desperately needing an advocate, and she was ready to become that for her neighbors.
Deciding to run for office while being a mother, business owner, and public school advocate was a daunting task, but Judge found that resources from the National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC) were not only helpful but, in fact, imperative to kickstarting her campaign.
Judge utilized NDTC resources for all areas of her campaign: learning the steps needed to run, setting up her campaign committee, and developing her personal story.
Of the dozens of courses available on our Online Academy, Judge leaned on the following throughout her campaign:
As a parent and advocate, Judge strives to improve the community for everyone and believes that her constituents all want the same things for children in schools: safety, quality education, and transparency. It's due to those reasons that Laura has trained and worked tirelessly to build a campaign for the people.
“Something that I have learned is that you can still be responsive without being available 24/7. You shouldn't burn yourself out as a candidate.”
Laura Judge, Candidate for the Cobb County School Board Post 5
Laura Judge is just one example of an everyday person seeing issues within their local community and stepping up to doing something about it. Every person is capable of running for office, and NDTC is here to be your guide to doing it.
