Nick Shalosky

Shalosky was involved in politics in the late 2000s and became the secretary of the SC Stonewall Democrats chapter; he was also one of the founding board members of the group.^[8] He learned about the Stonewall Democrats through Tom Chorlton, a professor and former executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club, a forerunner organization of the Stonewall Democrats.^[8] Shalosky participated in the 2008 presidential campaigns volunteering for Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and the successful candidate Barack Obama.^[1] At local events he questioned Republican candidates on their positions on gay rights.^[1]

He also ran his own campaign as a write-in candidate for the Charleston County School Board.^[1] This resulted from his findings during an independent research project at the College of Charleston on the impacts of new technology and the Internet on local elections. Learning of a school board seat that had not attracted candidates 2 weeks before the election, Shalosky he established a moderate online presence using the social networking site Facebook to promote his candidacy.^[1] "I thought it would be interesting to see how students could use social networking sites to get one of their own elected."^[1][5] He did not spend any money to campaign.^[14] At the time, Obama's campaign was being praised for its use of social media to engage younger voters.^[15]

According to The Digitel, Shalosky said he was conducting a "social experiment" to see how use of Facebook could affect a local campaign.^[16]

He wrote on Facebook:

"I am doing sort of an experiment to see how Facebook can really effect {sic} a local campaign. Write in my name Nicholas Shalosky and see if we can get any attention. If you think I'm being too egotistical I wouldn't mind deciding on a name to vote for, but I think it would be interesting to see what happens on election day!"^[16]

Preliminary election results showed different winners, who were sworn in and attended meetings, than were ultimately certified by the election board following the count of votes for write-in candidates.^[17][18] Shalosky won a seat on the 7-member school board based on the 22 votes cast for him. He had no opponent for the seat. He represented downtown Charleston's 20th District for a four-year term, starting in November 2008.^[15][19]

He said, "Such rapid mobilization might not have been possible only two years ago. But with a Facebook page and a knowledge of online organizing, I secured my winning margin without spending a penny."^[8] He was the only school board member elected who was under 40 years old.^[5] His professor Bill Moore said Shalosky would start an "independent study of Internet use in politics as part of his curriculum."^[15] Post and Courier columnist Ken burger noted that while more traditional advertising of radio and television had also changed the way politicians get votes, those mediums were "top-to-bottom communication," but the Internet allowed "grass-roots groups to dictate outcomes."^[15] Burger believed that Shalosky's campaign was the beginning of what will likely be major change to local politics due to use of the Internet.^[15]

During his term, in 2010 Shalosky was elected by the board members as vice-chairman of the District 20 Constituent Board. He later was elected by them as the board's chairperson, a rotating position.^[6]

• In March 2009 the local Charleston City Paper critics' awards honored Shalosky in their "Best of Charleston" issue with "Best Display of Gumption by a 20-something."^[20]
• In June 2009 Shalosky and six other openly LGBT politicos were named in The Advocate's annual 'Forty people under 40 years old to watch' list along with "out U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.; Obama administration staffer Jamie Citron; New York City mayoral aide James Anderson; fundraiser Aisha C. Mills; and DNC member Jason Rae."^[21]
• Shalosky was selected as a Diversity Fellow starting January 2014 at the Charleston School of Law.^[6]