How can I run for federal office in Illinois?
The ways that Democrats have handled everything recently, from Trump's in progress coup to how they picked candidates for all recent elections. To this end, I'd very much like to run for office and displace a corporate democrat in the House of Representatives with a progressive person like myself (I'd actually prefer if it wasn't me, but I'm not aware of anyone else trying this in my district). This is for three reasons:
- I believe that progressive policies are the best way forward for almost everyone
- I believe that progressive policies, when properly messed, are a winning electoral strategy in most places
- I believe that the current Democratic party needs to be deeply reformed, and a new progressive person in office would be a part of this
But, I have never run any campaign before. I have no idea how to even begin with that. Where can I get support for doing this? The organizations that helped AOC displace a corporate Democrat don't exist anymore. Most organizations that I can find are for some specific under-represented-in-politics group (i.e., women) that I am not, so they are not likely to support me. Run for Something says that they only help with local and state elections, not federal elections, so they don't help with what I want (I even sent them an email to see how strict this limitation was, but I got no reply despite having sent it shortly after Trump took office.). The Democratic party obviously would not help, since they hate progressive candidates.
Also, I work a job that would not like me splitting my attention between it and such a campaign, so I'd need some plan to make income to live on while campaigning.