You need much more than 375 signatures. You need lots of money. While there are plenty of exceptions, and I’ve seen several of them, the rule is that the candidate with the most money wins. Why? Money equal exposure, and exposure equals name ID.
Incumbents have three very large advantages, and all would need to be overcome or managed.
1. Name ID. All things being equal, the candidate with the most name ID wins. In order to take on an incumbent that holds a high residual name ID, you must first get enough exposure to match his name ID within a district. ONLY after you are at name ID parity can you really distinguish yourself on the issues.
Before you go any further, you MUST understand the import of this: if you don’t have name ID parity, then your issues don’t matter because you cannot get them out to enough of the voters to overcome the name ID advantage that the incumbent already has on you.
2. Money. Donors want to see results, and few people want to throw money at a losing cause. The incumbent has something you do not have: a history of winning elections. He will get donations because he’s an elected official. How will you get donations? I will tell you plainly that unless and/or until you have $50K in your campaign account, no serious “investor” will give you a dime. It’s politics 101. Before somebody invests in an unknown, they at least have to see that you know how to raise money.
3. Constituent services. Half a congresscritter’s job is constituent services and most do an outstanding job of it. This is where issues don’t matter. “My congressman is a great guy,” is a true statement for 30% of your district, or more. Why? Because his office helped me get through the red tape at the VA, or helped grandma get her SS check fixed. Or, on a larger scale, he brought a senior center to the district, or got a new highway built, or etc. etc. There’s a large number of primary voters that have directly benefited from his term in office. Indeed, that’s the whole reason some voters ARE primary voters in your race: to give back to the great guy that did wonderful things for that person, personally.
There’s a reason why 90+ percent of incumbents get re-elected. I’m not trying to discourage you from running, but you need a realistic idea of what you’re facing.
I’ll post another post with more.
One more thought. You don’t need 375 signatures. You need 800-1000 signatures. Turn in 500 signatures, and your opponent will work night and day to disqualify 126 of them.
It’s far easier to remove an opponent from the start than it is to actually run a primary.
If your district allows you to buy onto the ballot (fee vs. petition), pay the fee. George Washington never gets rejected by the filing office. In addition, you want to spend every second getting your message out, and spending time explaining the petition shouldn’t be part of your message.