USD Magazine, Winter 2001

ALCALA ~ ALMANAC

An Unlikely Candidate Business professor takes on underdog role in campaign

"There is nothing glamorous about it," Craig says of fund raising. "There is a lot of rejec– tion, because people perceive donating to an underdog as wasting money. I was literally begging people, and Duncan still had a three-to-one money advantage over us ." As Hunter aired television commercials and peppered con– stituents with direct mail, the Barkacs campaign struggled to pay the bills. By the rime office space rent and salaries of a two– person support staff were paid and direct-mail pieces were printed and sent, media advertis– ing was our of the question. On election day, Barkacs polled 54,090 votes, just under half of Hunter's total. Reflecting on rhe campaign in rhe days fol– lowing the election, disappoint– ed and visibly tired, Barkacs toyed with the question of whether he'd do it all again. "I can't imagine we could have worked any harder," he says. "But I'd consider running again. I still believe rhe issues matter, and I believe it matters who we elect. I still believe in public service."

For months on end, Craig and Linda began their days at 5 a. m. and worked until mid– night, standing at busy intersec– tions with signs during rush hour, stuffing envelopes, walking precincts and shaking hands at shopping malls. Campaign manager Chris Cook '2000, a former student of Craig's, had just returned from working abroad for Andersen Consulting when Craig asked him to join his ream. Cook, a registered Republican, says the campaign was the best learning experience of his life.

Professor Craig Barkacs (right) and his wife, Linda, met with President Bill Clinton last year when Clinton visited San Diego for a fund-raiser.

C raig Barkacs ran for a sear in the House of Represent– atives with the slogan "main– stream, not extreme." He might as well have added that he was swimming upstream. In November, Barkacs, a law school alumnus and School of Business professor, lost his bid for the 52nd congressional dis– trict in San Diego. Though he had cobbled together the sup– port of a bipartisan coalition of prominent San Diegans, Barkacs, a political unknown and Democrat, faced Duncan Hunter, an incumbent who for two decades rep resented one of the most Republican districts in Southern California. The race cost Barkacs and his wife, Linda, more chat $150,000 out of their own pocket, not including, as he points out, the income lost from virtually shut– ting down rhe law firm they operate together. And if he won, Barkacs would have had ro give up his tenure at USD.

At a rime when the public's negative perception of politicians is approaching Watergate-era pro– portions, why take such a risk? "I was an information tech– nologies consultant," Cook says. "I had to learn it from scratch. T hat was a challenge, bur noth- "It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when." - Linda Barkacs on her husband's run for Congress .

"I have a burning desire to serve," he says. "Ir's literally a calling. Contrary to what some people say, I think it matters who represents you in govern– ment. I think it makes a big dif– ference, and I'm absolutely con– fident I could do a good job of it.)) Linda, a School of Law alum– na and adjunct professor at USD, says she knew before they were married 17 years ago that Craig would run for office. "It wasn't a matter of if," she says, "it was a matter of when. "

ing like working on a campaign. You have to be on your roes every single seco nd of every sin– gle day. Ir's exhausting." Perhaps the most daunting challenge the campaign faced was rhe necessary evil of fund raising against an opponent who could fall back on long-estab– lished relationships with donors and political action committees. Barkacs gathered a little more than $250,000, about a third of Hunter's total.

- Tim McKernan

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