People in recovery from substance use hope to change the political landscape by running for office

Thomas Higdon was a lifelong political fanatic, following the news cycle, rooting for candidates and volunteering for a number of campaigns.

He had long dreamed of working in government, but he and everyone around him thought that wouldn’t be possible because of his substance use. His use of alcohol and other drugs began to cause problems when he was in law school in the mid-1990s, and by 2014 the effects of his substance use left him living under an overpass. He abstains from drugs now, but even years later he felt he had ruined his chances of running for office.

“For decades, I allowed this internalized stigma to blind me to what I could really do,” Higdon, now 52, ​​told CBS News.

That thought stayed with him for years. He moved into grassroots organizing and advocacy spaces, but in 2023 he heard about the Recovery Advocacy Project’s upcoming “Run for Recovery” program — and realized that working in public office might still be possible.

Building a political boot camp for people in recovery

Courtney Gary-Allen, who started using drugs at a young age and overdosed several times before getting sober in 2015, has successfully run for office twice. In 2020, she was elected to the city council in Augusta, Maine. In 2023, she was re-elected to the same role. She won by large margins both times, but the experience made her realize the need for a campaign boot camp around people in recovery. Similar boot camps are run by major political parties, but she wanted to create a bipartisan space tailored to the specific experiences and needs of the recovery community.

“Over the past decade, the recovery movement in America has been very focused on telling our stories and advocating and pushing for better policies around substance abuse and recovery efforts, and I think this is a new chapter in the story of recovery. advocacy movement,” said Gary-Allen, who is also an organizer of the Maine Advocacy Recovery Project. “We are no longer just advocating for policymakers. We are running to become the policymakers who make decisions on these issues and much more.”

Run for Recovery was born from that idea. The program graduated its first class in August 2024, consisting of five Democrats, five Republicans and five Independents. The fifteen participants were selected from across the country. They met online once a month for a year to discuss the ins and outs of setting up a campaign. The lessons ranged from learning about financial laws to drafting position statements and preparing to talk openly about their substance abuse.

Higdon was one of the selected participants. Even though he had been involved in campaigns “all his life,” he said the Run for Recovery class taught him about the technical aspects of running for office. But it wasn’t just learning in the classroom that inspired him. When he started the class, “there was still that kind of nagging voice in the back of your head like, ‘You can’t run,'” Higdon said. Time with his classmates helped change his perspective.

“I just can’t express how good it felt to be around people who wanted to do this too,” Higdon said. “There are a number of reasons why I might not end up running, but the fear of what people will say and that stigma won’t be one of them.”

Founder of Mobilize Recovery Ryan Hamptonwho completed the Run for Recovery program and is campaigning for a seat in the Nevada state Assembly, said the stigma has affected his campaign. He said his campaign has been the subject of attack ads that brought up his history of substance use and called out his policy positions for a “dangerous drug agenda.”

It’s a stressful time, Hampton said, but the lessons he’s learned through his recovery journey and from the Run for Recovery program have helped him continue his campaign.

“I’m definitely the underdog in this race, but I’m used to it,” Hampton said. “Am I afraid of losing an election? No, I’ve lost a lot more in my life than an election. I’m not afraid of losing. I run to win, but I also run because I believe that our community longing for something else.”

Growing a movement

There is no compiled list of all individuals who apply in recovery. Gary-Allen said she was aware of several people in recovery running for office in Maine. Higdon is considering a run for a seat in the Maryland state legislature. Racquel Garcia, a Run for Recovery graduate who holds a tenured position in Colorado, is considering a campaign for state office in 2026.

Gary-Allen said she hopes more graduates of the Run for Recovery program will start their own campaigns — and that others in recovery, even people who haven’t been through the program, will make the leap into politics.

“I think we are on the verge of a revelation. Not only are people in recovery voting, showing up and advocating, we’re running for office and we’re going to serve in these seats,” Gary-Allen said. “We will help create solutions for substance abuse issues across the country. I look forward to the upcoming election seasons.”