BILLINGS, Mont. - The Billings Chamber of Commerce hosted their 2023 Candidate School on Thursday for people interested in getting involved with local politics.
The Candidate School is a free one-day program that gives participants a crash course on the process of seeking an elected office.
Attendees got to learn about campaign finance, media, and marketing and received the opportunity to network with members of the city council and local business community.
Tim Stark, the Owner of a local digital advertising company, was one of the presenters who said that digital marketing is especially important for any prospective candidate to get their message out to people in a cost-effective manner.
"As a candidate or an organization supporting the candidate or a ballot initiative, we want to make sure that we are getting where the eyeballs are. Social media—Facebook, Instagram, and then there is the IP Digital where I can find your information on the voter file whether it be name or address and then I can push ads to you about my message or my campaign,” explained Stark.
Beau Mulvaney, a teacher at Billings West High School and one of the attendees of the Candidate School, said that the program is beneficial for all those running for elections for the first time.
“For those who are just at the beginning of their start of the election, and they are unsure of how the process works, this is the perfect blueprint all-in-one accessible setting. We have city council members who come and speak, we have campaign people, we have digital campaign people, financing people. It’s more focused on you and what you’re bringing to your community,” added Mulvaney.
He also said he wants to be elected to bring more improvement in public safety and emphasis on mental health issues in billings.
“I want to see public safety improve and I know that’s a big concern for everyone in Billings. We passed a public safety mill levy not too long ago and I think that helped us out a lot, but I think there are things we can do as well, which is community building. If there is a sense of pride in the community, people are less likely to do illicit stuff. Another thing is mental health. I think that needs to be taken seriously and I think it affects a lot of the public safety issues we see,” emphasized Mulvaney.
This year, eleven candidates attended the Billings Chamber Session, receiving a certificate at the end of the day to show they have successfully completed the Candidate School.
