Patti Russo, executive director of the Campaign School at Yale University, left, greets First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker at the school’s training seminar Saturday at the Westport Library. Tooker is a graduate of the program.

By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — The Campaign School at Yale University, which held a seminar Saturday in Westport, has helped local politicians, particularly women, prepare for the rigors of running for office or working on a political campaign.

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, state Sen. Ceci Maher and state Rep. Dominique Johnson, all among the school’s local alumnae, spoke at the seminar at the Westport Library.

The Westport seminar is one of the first held by the school to start preparing women for the 2024 campaign cycle, according to information provided by the school.

Michelle Mechanic, chairwoman of the Westport Democratic Town Committee, attended a week-long training session last summer at the Campaign School at Yale University. On Election Day last week, she was outside Greens Farms Elementary School campaigning for local Democratic candidates. Her party’s candidates swept to victory for seats on the town’s major boards and commissions.

“The school has one purpose — to ensure that people are ready to run for office and help them be successful in that venture,” Tooker said after the seminar. 

What many people don’t realize, she added, is that running a successful political campaign requires hours of hard work day after day. 

“People see candidates shaking hands and kissing babies, and think that’s what it is,” the first selectwoman said. Political candidates “have to be raising money constantly, preparing for debates constantly, constantly figuring out who you need to speak to next,” and the campaign school team “doesn’t sugarcoat anything. You have to passionately want to do this work. There’s no doubt about it.”

Tooker graduated from the Campaign School at Yale in 2015, and has held several elected positions on Westport town commissions and boards, including the Boards of Finance and Education, and after a term as a member of the Board of Selectmen, was elected to the town’s chief executive post in 2021.

Another Westport graduate of the campaign school, Michelle Mechanic, is chairwoman of the Westport Democratic Town Committee. The school, which trains campaign managers as well as candidates, clearly trained Mechanic well, according to Patti Russo, the school’s executive director, since the Democrats swept the Westport elections this year.

“Tuesday night was quite a banner evening — a clean sweep — every one of her candidates won, with Democrats winning all major offices,” Russo said of the Nov. 7 election results.

Other recent Republican graduates, who ran for office in other towns, also did well, said Russo, who stressed that the campaign school is “a non-partisan and non-issue school.” 

The school trains women “who are running for office, running a campaign. or learning how to be more civically engaged,” Russo said. 

Mechanic said she enrolled in a week-long training program at the school last summer after she became chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Westport.

Ann Sheffer of Westport, a board member of the Campaign School at Yale University, wore a “Girls just want to have funds” tee-shirt at Saturday’s seminar, which offered guidance to aspiring candidates about topics like campaign financing and organization.

“I had previously been working in politics … on statewide policy work. When I became head of the Democratic Party, I really needed to know more about helping with campaigns,” she said.

The school helps with speech writing and coaching, “and things that you didn’t realize that you need to know,” Mechanic said. What was new for her was learning how to analyze political data and how to work with that information.

The school’s role encouraging more women to become involved politically is very important, Mechanic added, although men can also enroll in the program.

Democrat Bill Gerber, who ran for first selectman last week in Fairfield, is a Yale Campaign School alumni, Mechanic said. Gerber held a razor-thin lead over incumbent Republican Brenda Kupchick based on last week’s returns, but a vote recount is scheduled Nov. 14. 

The Campaign School at Yale holds a one-day training seminar each year in Westport, funded by the Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls. The annual Westport seminar is free to all Fairfield County residents.

On Saturday, attendees were welcomed by Tooker, Russo and Mary Grace Pagaduan, director of the Fund for Women & Girls. There were four modules, “Making the Decision to Run;” “Finding your Voice, Making it Matter;” “Effective Networking Techniques & Next Steps,” and an alumnae panel presentation with Maher, Johnson and state Rep. Rachel Khanna. 

Another group, encouraging participation in politics and government for middle and high school girls, is Ms President, which established a chapter in Westport last September. 

The Yale school holds a one-week training session in the summer and several one-day sessions around the state during the year. 

For more information, visit the Campaign School at Yale University website.

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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.

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