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On November 7, 2023, two independent, Good Party certified candidates won their elections for city council in Auburn, Maine: Belinda Gerry and Benjamin Weisner. Gerry, an incumbent council member, won her election with 2,670 votes. Weisner, a first-time council member, won his election after running unopposed to represent Ward 4.
Good Party spoke with Weisner about his campaign and his hopes for the future of the independent movement.
Before running for city council, Weisner campaigned for the Maine House of Representatives in 2022. The election resulted in a close race, with Weisner earning 1,022 votes compared to the winning Democratic candidate’s total of 1,342 votes.
During both campaigns, Weisner made use of Good Party’s free tools and expert support for independent candidates.
“The Good Party movement has been entirely helpful. When I first got involved, it was an amazing story,” Weisner said. “The connection between the team at Good Party and me has really been great to help get the word out that independents are in the area, that they're running, and that there's another choice for people to choose rather than a two-party system.”
Weisner first decided to campaign as an independent when preparing for his run for state legislature.
“That decision was based on my political views and being middle-of-the-road — not being left, not being right, but being right in the middle. That's just who I am, and I thought that was true to who I am,” Weisner said. “When knocking on doors, I found that people within my community felt the same way. I didn't win the election, but I got a lot of support from people that felt the same way.”
Weisner said that at the time, many people in the area expressed dissatisfaction with both the Democratic and Republican parties.
“People really liked somebody that was just middle-of-the-road, willing to listen to their thoughts and concerns, and just not far left or far right — somebody that was just in the middle and was willing to listen to both sides on the issues,” Weisner said.
Though Weisner did not end up winning the state legislature race in 2022, he was able to raise a considerable amount of grassroots support with the help of Good Party’s campaign tools. The candidate profile and vote tracking feature provided by Good Party proved especially helpful for his campaign.
“The vote tracker and profile that you guys had for candidates such as myself, was entirely helpful to me in spreading the word about my campaign, what my values were, and who I was,” Weisner said. “I found that with Good Party, the vote tracker was very close and I would say extremely accurate with what my vote count turned out to be at the end of the race. I was very surprised and very excited to see how close that was, and my race was a very close race. I'm extremely grateful for what Good Party did.”
Following his defeat in 2022, Weisner knew he wasn’t ready to give up on running for office. Instead, he took the leap and ran for city council, hoping to represent his community in another way.
“I wanted to continue serving,” Weisner said. “I thought that just because I had lost didn't mean I had to give up. People still liked my ideas, they liked what I was doing, and they thought I should continue to serve in some capacity within government.
“So I thought about that long and hard and decided to serve on the city council, because that election was coming up and I really wanted to make sure that people's voices were heard. I felt that if I stepped back from it, then that would be a missed opportunity for the constituents that supported me in the previous election.”
Weisner said he would encourage more candidates who run for office and lose their first election to not give up hope after a single defeat — especially if they have continued support from their community.
“Just because you lost this one doesn't mean you should give up on your quest to serve,” Weisner said.
During his campaign for city council, Weisner faced a very different environment than during his race for the state legislature. Instead of running in a closely contested race, he now found himself running for office unopposed.
Even without the added pressure, though, Weisner said Good Party’s campaign tools were helpful in raising awareness, both for his campaign and for Belinda Gerry’s.
“I saw what the tool was doing for Belinda. I saw when she signed up and the great things that it was doing in connecting with AI. I think that's a crucial thing that's going to help people with the many hats they’ve got to wear when campaigning,” Weisner said.
Since starting his term in office, Weisner has been finding new ways to connect with and better represent his constituents. He’s now looking forward to serving his community and supporting other independent candidates who want to run for office.
“More independents getting involved and getting elected is very important and exciting, because it's bringing more diverse ideas. It's not just one side or the other,” Weisner said. “What gives me hope about independents is that they're working together to find solutions that work for everybody. I think that's the most exciting.”
To learn more about Benjamin Weisner, visit his profile on the city of Auburn, Maine’s website.
Want to run for office as an independent and become part of the growing movement for change? Book a meeting with the team at Good Party today, and learn how you could become the next independent candidate to run, win, and serve in your community.
