As a teal candidate I faced abuse, sexism, vitriol — and found an unexpected friendship

This past November, I ran as the independent teal candidate for the seat of Caulfield in the Victorian election. As one of four Climate 200 endorsed candidates in Victoria, and the first to be publicly announced, my candidacy was met with a huge media storm, including the front page of The Australian, as well as feature profiles in The Age and Guardian Australia.

In Caulfield and across the state, there was intense interest in my seat, which, since its creation in 1927, has almost entirely been held by the Liberal Party. For the duration of my campaign, SportsBet even had my candidacy in Caulfield with the best odds to pull off a victory.

I did not win my race unfortunately, with Liberal David Southwick clinching the seat with 44.5% of the vote. However, I do not for a second regret running as a candidate; I learnt many important lessons — both positive and negative — that will continue to shape my perspective on politics for years to come.

As a first-time candidate running for office, when I was out campaigning, I was surprised at the level of vitriol directed my way. People I have known forever seemed to forget I was a real person, hurling abuse at me both online and in person. Some of these attacks were horrifying, with a number of people yelling at me in front of my young children, along with in-person sexist commentary about my decision to run for office while pregnant and many unhinged comments about my hair and clothing.

Despite these experiences, I learnt that the loudest voices who amplify their opinions to spout hatred are generally not representative of the average voter in the community. Most people I met with were excited that there was an independent running, and even if they were not planning to vote for me, expressed admiration that more women were throwing their hats in the political arena. 

I learnt that while for many, politics is a sum-all game, where people entrench their views about their political opponents and refuse to budge. But it doesn’t have to be that way — I realised that I could form genuine bonds with people from different parties and with different viewpoints than my own, despite disagreeing with their politics.

My Liberal opponent in the seat of Caulfield was David Southwick, the deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal Party. Like six of the seven lower house candidates in Caulfield, David and I are both Jewish, but that’s where our similarities end. David is a lifelong Liberal Party member, a middle-aged dad and a former DJ. I am a former Labor Party member, a young mum and a lawyer.

I don’t agree with many policies in David’s party, and I certainly don’t agree with his voting during his prior 12 years in Parliament. But having spent many hours campaigning alongside him, I came out of my race genuinely liking him as a person, seeing firsthand that he is a truly friendly man who cares deeply about the local community. My volunteers and David’s even shared umbrellas in the unseasonably cold and rainy November weather, bought each other coffee and lunch, and spoke about our common and shared interests.

Many people point to the prime ministership of Tony Abbott as the catalyst for when politics became unprecedently nasty, with personal attacks, vicious smears and sexism baked into the national discourse. Luckily I saw none of this antagonism among any of the Caulfield candidates; some Victorian campaigners felt tension during the early voting weeks, but it generally was jovial and civil.

I came into the race with preconceived notions about how I would experience running for office, but I have left enriched with the knowledge that most who enter politics do so with an aim to better their local community and make a difference.

Independent candidates are an important wake-up call to incumbents across the country, encouraging them to work as hard as possible for the local community they are elected to serve. This attention benefits all people living in the area, as it often results in a flurry of promises for important local projects, such as funding for schools and infrastructure.

The two-party system in Victoria is dying, with factional party politics turning people off in droves due to scandals including branch stacking, seats for the boys, sexism and discussions around restricting critical services for women, such as recriminalising abortion.

But as the independent movement of community-backed candidates continues to grow, communities have a unique opportunity to push for the changes they’ve always wanted to see. Neglected policy items can now be put on the agenda of major parties, such as greater regulation of the gambling industry, an end to native forest logging, and greater integrity in politics.

The high profile of my campaign means that my anonymity is still long gone in Caulfield, but the experiences and lessons in decency and campaigning with etiquette will remain with me for a lifetime.

Disclosure: Nomi Kaltmann has worked for the former state Labor MP Marsha Thomson and as an electorate officer for the federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, but has renounced her party membership.