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Writer's pictureKristopher Ulrich

I Lost the Election. What Now?

Well, the results are in and I came in dead last.  I won’t sugarcoat it either, I was expecting to win.  I’m a known entity (for the better, I thought), a townie with a history of service, I was first to announce my candidacy, I talked to thousands of voters over the last five months, I was endorsed by people all over the political spectrum, heck I even had first position ballot placement.  Lessons have been learned.  



I haven’t decided whether I will run again next year, the following, or ever.  I’m taking a month's leave from Landmarks and Plan Commission - I’ll come back to those in May - but in the meantime City Hall and I need a break from one another while I pick up the pieces and move on with life.  The day following the election was rough.  I’m glad that my wife was home to be with the kids, because I was an emotional zombie for most of the day.  On Thursday I pulled myself together and went around picking up yard signs just in case there’s another run.  If you still have a sign that I missed, please feel free to drop it off on my porch.  


“What would I do differently” is the question that I’ve been mulling over at length.  The big thing is definitely mailers early and often.  I thought that I had enough market penetration by means of my connections throughout the community alone.  That was not the case.  The guys who won this year had great mailers, right?!  Kris’s “yard sign for the fridge” was brilliant.  DJ’s mug was plastered on so many postcards that was hard not to have him in your mind as a candidate.  Jacob’s flyers were clean and concise.  I ignored this print media, and that was a tactical error.  


Being concise with my messaging is another thing that I would have to do differently.  I’m proud of my website.  I thought, and I still think, that more is more.  My website has the most to offer compared to anyone else who ran.  More writing about who I am, what platforms I hold dear, and tons of blog content.  If there was a hot button topic being talked about, I wrote about it at length.  And that’s important.  I really want people to know what my stance is - to see it in writing on a permanent place like my website, and not just on social media.  The problem with the concise messaging on mailers we get though is that some of it is little more than pandering.  And worse yet, a lot of it is pandering to a base pretty identifiable as partisan.


Speaking of political parties, nonpartisanship was definitely my high horse for the campaign.  And it will be again, even if it leads to my demise a final time.  I mean, I lost to a former mayoral candidate and two men who were deep in the trenches of their undivided base ideologies... 


I congratulate Kris, Jacob, & DJ all the same.  They played the game well, and I respect the outcome of this democratic process.  They deserve the seats that they won.  They’re ready to do the work, and they’ve proven that they genuinely care for Oshkosh and have visions for its future.  They are good men.  It’s important to feel like there are people in those seats of leadership who represent our interests and can get things done.  We already know how effective Kris and Jacob can be when they get going on something.  I’m particularly glad that Jacob won a seat this year.  You saw it in writing here first folks, it is my opinion that Jacob Floam will go on to a congressional or senatorial seat in his 30s or 40s.  We will look back in ten years on this time he spent on Oshkosh Council and consider ourselves fortunate to have “known him when,” so to speak.  


Back to changes that I would make for another time around.  I will be adding a newsletter to the website.  Got to keep pushing that sweet delicious content into inboxes, right?  The biggest change to my personal philosophy though is going to be getting over my hesitancy to accept group endorsements.  I still think it’s lazy to pick your candidates because of which groups they are endorsed by, but I have been told quite the opposite of that by hundreds of you.  I had a man at church come at me flabbergastingly wondering why I wasn’t endorsed by Wisconsin Conservation Voters.  He’s worked with me on sustainability efforts for our congregation, he knows where I stand, and he was just beside himself that I would choose not to seek endorsement from them.  I had another woman equally shocked that I would avoid the Labor endorsement.  She knows we’re a union household - how and why would I ignore that call to be interviewed for endorsement?  I’ll say it: I was wrong to go it with personal endorsements alone.  People really like to see what groups endorse which candidates.  I get it even if I don’t like it.  To me it just feels like an extension of partisan groupthink, and I don’t think we need it at the level of city council.  I will need to grow beyond this opinion next time.  I recognize when I’m wrong.  


I also recognize you!  Wow, you see a special side of people when you’re a political candidate.  Most of you were great.  In truth, the more I talked to all of you in person, the more I affirmed that we’re more alike than different.  We all want good roads.  We all want responsible spending.  We all want interesting quality of life improvements.  We all want a safe community.  We all want great parks.  We all want solutions to our housing problems.  We all want clean water.  


I’d like to say thank you to so many people.  My wife, Bridget, has been with me through thick and thin.  My daughters have been darlings.  They’ve been inquisitive and adorable.  My mother has made so many good suggestions and encouraged all of my work.  The same goes for my in-laws (mom, dad, and sisters) for their abundance of feedback and support.  Everyone who contributed money to my campaign made all of the signs, boosted Facebook posts, and ads in the Herald a reality.  Each of you who signed nomination forms (or took some to fill), invited me to events, hosted a sign in your yard, talked about me to your friends and neighbors, I thank you all so much.


Many of our city leaders were stand up folks.  I’ve talked at length about how much Mike Ford and Joe Stephenson helped me think through what I was doing.  I hope that they know how excellent they’ve been as role models.  Matt Mugerauer, Paul Esslinger, and Karl Beulow were good true neutrals on the alignment chart.  I got congenial good luck wishes and sound advice from them all.  Matt appointed me to Plan Commission in December.  It all adds up.  These five men are definitely different, but when it came to it they each made a point to reach out and offer a hand in some way.  That’s good leadership.  Mark Rohloff deserves respect here, too.  He sat down and listened whenever I wanted to talk.  He always responded to emails.  He also always makes a point of speaking highly of the work being done and the progress being made throughout the city.  He’s a good spokesperson for Oshkosh.  And lastly, from the City I must thank the clerks.  Caroline, Crystal, Diane, and everyone else down in the office were exceptionally helpful.  They were particularly gracious to me when I’d make stupid little guffaws with paperwork that I was unaccustomed to filing.  I really appreciated their genuine friendliness, neutrality, and willingness to be of service.


What’s next?  I am going to keep the website up and make some updates like I’ve mentioned here - add a newsletter signup, update the landing page and other site content that was written specifically for this election, etc.  I will occasionally add to the blog/article section.  


Rotary has been and always will be my place to volunteer.  You’ll see me around a lot.  My church buildings & grounds committee is working on a project that may provide an important service in the world of food security downtown if it comes to pass.  And I’m going to finish a book.  I had gotten through a first draft and a round of edits from a dozen folks before the campaign started, but I put it on the backburner last autumn.  It’s time to get back to publishing. It’s a kids book, actually.  I’ve got a toddler and a kindergartener at home, and I’ve always wanted an Oshkosh ABC book in our reading rotation, so that’s what I wrote.  I’ve got a shortlist of books I’d like to write, actually, but more on those another time.  


Keep in touch as the months go on.  If you want to meet and talk about Oshkosh, the contact section is right up on the top of every page.  And if you actually read through all of this, thank you.  I know it’s a lot, but I like to write, and clearly you have a high tolerance for long blogs.


Thank you all for making this campaigning experience worthwhile. Congratulations again to this year's winners! I suppose I'm in good company though if I'm to close on a high note. After all, Matt Mugerauer and Steve Cummings lost their first bids to be on Council, but they went on to try again, do meaningful work on Council, and become Mayor. There's hope yet.

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