Thomas Higdon has been a political fanatic all his life: keeping up with the news cycle, door-knocking for candidates and volunteering for a number of campaigns.

He had long dreamed of working in government, but he and everyone around him felt it would not be possible because of his substance abuse. His use of alcohol and other drugs began to cause problems when he was in law school in the mid-1990s, and in 2014, the consequences of his substance use left him living under an overpass. He’s now drug-free, but even years later, he felt it ruined his chances of running for office.

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

This thought stayed with him for years. She moved into grassroots organizing and advocacy spaces, but in 2023, she learned 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 alderman for the city of Augusta, Maine. She was re-elected to the same role in 2023. Both times, she won in a landslide, but the experience made her realize the need for a campaign bootcamp centered around people in recovery. Similar camps are organized by the major political parties, but she wanted to create a bipartisan space tailored to the specific experiences and needs of the recovery community.

“In the last decade or so, the recovery movement in America has been very focused on telling our stories and advocating and promoting better policy around substance use disorders and recovery efforts, and I think this is a new chapter in the recovery story. advocacy movement,” said Gary-Allen, who is also the organizing director of the Maine Advocacy Recovery Project. “We no longer support only political decision-makers. We are running to become the policy makers who make decisions about these issues and more.”

Run for Recovery was born from this idea. The program graduated its inaugural class of five Democrats, five Republicans and five independents in August 2024. The 15 participants were drawn from across the country. Once a month for a year, they met online to discuss the ins and outs of running a campaign. Lessons ranged from learning about financial laws to developing position statements to preparing to talk openly about their substance abuse.

Higdon was one of the selected participants. Even though he’s “been around campaigns all his life,” he said the Run for Recovery course educated him on the technicalities of running for office. But it wasn’t just classroom learning that inspired him. When the class started, “there was still kind of a nagging voice in the back of your head, ‘You can’t run,'” Higdon said. The time he spent with his classmates changed his perspective.

“I can’t express how good it felt to be around people who wanted to do this,” Higdon said. “There are a number of reasons why in the end I might not run, but the fear of what people will say and the stigma will not 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 hurt her campaign. He said his campaign has been subjected to attack ads that bring up his history of substance use and call his political positions the “dangerous drug agenda.”

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

“I’m definitely the weakest in this race, but I’m used to it,” Hampton said. “Am I afraid of losing the election? No, I’ve lost a lot more in my life than elections. I’m not afraid to lose. You run to win, but I’m also running because I think our community is yearning for something different.”

Growth of a movement

There is no compiled list of every person in recovery running for office. Gary-Allen said he knew of several people in recovery running for office in Maine. Higdon is weighing a run for a seat in the Maryland state legislature. Racquel Garcia, a Run for Recovery alumna who holds an appointed position in Colorado, is considering a 2026 campaign for state office.

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

“I think we’re at this peak of revelation. Not only are people in recovery voting and showing up and advocating, but we’re running for office and we’re going to fill those seats,” Gary-Allen said. “We will help create solutions for substance use across the country. I am excited about the next two electoral seasons”.