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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Wheelan '88 discusses campaign

Charles Wheelan '88 discussed his quest for an Illinois congressional seat during a lunch held in the Rockefeller Center on Friday afternoon.
Charles Wheelan '88 discussed his quest for an Illinois congressional seat during a lunch held in the Rockefeller Center on Friday afternoon.
Correction appended

Charles Wheelan '88 described life on the campaign trail to a group of Dartmouth students, including several of his former pupils, at a lunch held in the Rockefeller Center on Friday afternoon.

Wheelan is running in the March 3 Democratic primary for Illinois's 5th Congressional District seat. The seat was vacated by former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who was named chief of staff by President Barack Obama in November.

Explaining his decision to launch his campaign, Wheelan pointed to a wall of brass plaques in the Class of 1930 room with the names of alumni who had been elected to national political office.

"That wall is part of the reason I'm running for Congress," he told the audience. "These were people who not only care about [public policy], but are willing to do it."

Wheelan said he initially became interested in public policy when he began a post-graduation trip around the world with his current wife, who he met on his freshman floor in Russell Sage residence hall.

Wheelan wrote several articles for the Valley News during the trip, which he said made him realize how the topics he chose to write about -- water quality in the Congo River and options for replacing illegal crops with legal ones in Thailand -- all pertained to public policy, he said.

When he returned, Wheelan became a speechwriter for John McKernan, at the time the governor of Maine, which helped him realize the true importance of public policy, he said.

"I mean, for example, it decides how we give health care, who gets health care," he said. "These are life or death outcomes."

He said he also found that none of his classmates, friends or former students had ever run for a major public office, with the exception of former congresswoman and now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Class of 1988.

"Like me, many had been researching [public policy,] writing about it, but not making the decisions," he said.

Wheelan also described the difficulty of beginning a congressional campaign "from scratch." He said the process has been more intense than he anticipated.

"So you decide you want to run for Congress," he said. "How do you set up an operation? How do you actually win this thing?"

The answer lies mainly in assembling a team of volunteers to work in the field, Wheelan explained. To be competitive, candidates usually must raise $300,000, making fundraising a crucial part of the campaign process, he said.

"This is the hardest, most unpleasant part of a campaign, having to constantly call people for money," he said. "You start in concentric circles -- your family, classmates. The [members of the Class of 1988] have been awesome."

Fundraising is especially important, he said, given the importance of television advertisements.

"With 14 candidates, if you're not on TV, you've lost," he said. "There are 39 days to win this thing, which has no runoff. It's like a student council election."

In the last few weeks, Wheelan has focused on collecting the signatures necessary for his name to appear on the top of the ballot. This would make him one of the most serious and competitive candidates, he said.

"The way we frame it is that the others are the conventional politicians, and I am the economics guy," he said. "But on the ballot, I wanted to prove I could play politics with the big guys."

Wheelan said he received a phone call immediately before the lunch informing him that he had been placed at the top of the ballot.

Asked by a student how the pressure of a campaign was affecting his personal life, Wheelan answered that his family was very supportive and relaxed.

"My family is good; we're kind of a thrill-seeking family, so it's an adventure," he said. "My children get to wear their buttons to school. They think it's kinda cool."

Wheelan said he is considering moving his family to Hanover, where he owns a home, for a year if his election bid fails. Wheelan is the author of "Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science," and a former correspondent for The Economist, as well as a senior lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He also returns to Dartmouth each summer to teach classes in economics and public policy.

The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Wheelan was motivated to begin his campaign after realizing that none of his classmates had run for a major public office. In fact, Wheelan said that only one other member of the Class of 1988, former congressman and now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had mounted such a campaign.