Practical Strategies for Entering Politics and Policy Arena
6.18.2025
If you are interested in running for office, this story is for you.
“From Courtrooms to the Campaign Trail: Empowering Women to Enter the Political Arena” is the first in a series of programs sponsored by the New York State Bar Association’s Women in Law Section. It brought together political strategists, operatives and politicians to give practical advice on developing political skills.
Kaelyn Gustafson, the chair of the section, said the goal is to encourage lawyers of all genders to serve the community. Gustafson and moderator Cheryl Kraus, an Albany attorney, opened the program by suggesting that lawyers have a special role to play in civic life.
“This is a timely and vital conversation,” Kraus said. “Lawyers have always been at the forefront of democratic change, and we know how much those in our profession are truly clamoring for opportunities to be involved with transformative or innovative policy discussions.”
How to Get Started
“Politics is not a once every two years, or once every four years thing. It should be a part of your life,” explained Katelyn Galbraith, an attorney and campaign operations coordinator with Get Out the Vote PAC. “This is a commitment you make every single day. It’s a part of your life that you dedicate toward community service, and it takes experience, dedication and education.”
Galbraith encouraged attendees to volunteer on a non-profit board to start building their skills. Finding an issue or group that a lawyer cares about builds community trust. Whether lawyers want to run for office or help others run, they need these foundational skills, she said. The next step is connecting with local campaigns and people who share those views and then joining a party.
“If you don’t have a network right now, go join a campaign of someone you respect, someone you want to emulate,” she said. “If you are staring from ground zero, it takes five years to build this before you run for office above the local level.”
New York State Sen. Patricia Fahy of Albany spent years working for others before running for office. She started her career on Capitol Hill working for Illinois Sen. Paul Simon and in the Department of Labor. After moving to Albany with her young family, she started volunteering in local races. Her first race as a candidate was for the Albany City School District Board of Education. Years later, when veteran Albany Assemblyman Jack McEneny announced his retirement, she saw an opportunity.
“A couple of women came to me and said, ‘you should consider this.’ And because I’d helped so many others, so much volunteer work, I took on a six-way primary to get into the Assembly,” she said.
Scott Karolidis, a fellow panelist who volunteers with Democratic Socialists of America, reminded attendees that volunteers can power a movement. “I was able to make change without a title or a paid job in politics. I was just a volunteer who had a day job doing something else,” he said.
Karolidis encouraged lawyers to take on difficult tasks such as door to door canvassing to hone their political skills and move others to action. “When I started talking to strangers on the street about politics, it refined my political perspective. I learned about how people approach politics, public policy and ideology,” he said.
Putting Your Legal Skills to Work
Fahy and Elle Bisgaard-Church, campaign manager for a New York City mayoral candidate, highlighted how lawyers can help explain complex laws to politicians so they can better connect to the public.
“As lawyers, you understand the laws around us, but you are also colleagues, tenants, parents and neighbors. This is where power and opportunity lies,” Bisgaard-Church said.
Fahy agreed that lawyers can help solve problems with good policy decisions. “We are always looking at the intersection of policy and politics. We try to thread that needle; it’s a juggling act,” she said.
Let Your Conscience Guide You
The panel of experts agreed that work in public service is a calling.
“There will be times when you have to hold the line and say no and have to explain why. You have to hold to that because your ethics say so, because your legal education says so,” Galbraith said. “It is your character and fitness on the line. We want folks who can stand up and do the job, not who are going to capitulate. You will get there if you work hard enough; I promise you.”
