POLI 224 simulates running for office

By Will Patel     10/22/24 11:08pm

Election season is in high gear: Campaign signs litter front yards, texts from candidates blow up phones and in a new class, students make their own election bid. In POLI 224: How to Run for Office, students create mini-political campaigns, learning the realities of being a candidate as they go. 

The class, taught by social policy analysis lecturer Elizabeth Vann, walks students through running for election. Rather than a readings and lectured-based syllabus, Vann said she wanted to craft an experiential course, enhanced by visits from local candidates, officials and advisors. 

“I wanted Rice students in the course to be able to imagine future pathways for themselves,” Vann said. “If they really are interested in working in the space, having personal connections is great.” 

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Class speakers range from Annise Parker ’78, former Houston mayor, to Josh Earnest ’97, former White House press secretary and current university trustee. Vann said the first visitors were Rice alumni who ran for office in Texas, and they discussed the motivations behind their candidacies.

“Is it stuff that happens at home? Is there something you’ve always wanted? … These [questions] engage students in the conversation of why they might be interested in running for office,” Vann said.

These discussions help students build their own candidate biographies, which guide their campaign goals, Vann said. 

“[The] candidate biography is a way for them to think about the person who has big ambitions, and they run initially because they’re thinking about what’s next, versus someone who runs because they’re committed to maybe an issue space or a particular community,” Vann said.

Additionally, students work on identifying potential voters and increasing voter turnout. They hear from former candidates, including those not elected, to help with these projects.

“Raj Salhotra (’13), [a Houston City Council candidate], didn’t win his campaign,” Vann said. “But he shared with the students early on some regrets he had about how that played out and maybe what he would do differently. This is an opportunity at a sort of high level.”

Throughout the semester, students have the freedom to make decisions about aspects of their campaign after hearing insights from speakers like Salhotra.

“The class design is really unique,” Nina Wallach, a Martel College sophomore, said. “We’ve had a lot of autonomy to decide what we want to run for and our strategies.

“The guests that we’ve had have been really cool to learn about why people run for office, what makes a more successful campaign and what it’s like to be in office.” 

But despite the class’s name, not all students want to run for office. 

“I did think most students would have political ambitions of their own,” Vann said. “I would say fewer than 50% of the class is interested in running for office, and that’s great.”

The class is a prime opportunity for students interested in working behind the scenes on political campaigns, Vann said. Students work in groups in class, so they get a sense of the collaborative work that goes on beyond the candidate. 

Even if students have no interest in political work, Vann believes students can gain valuable knowledge about elections — and said students in the class are much more likely to recognize the importance of primary elections, races with exceedingly low turnout.

“For me, that is a win for this class,” Vann said. “If [students] have zero interest in running [for office], but they’re now primary voters, I’m thrilled.”

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