Win a Local Election
If you're interested in becoming involved in your community, a great way to go about this is by running for local political office. A local political office covers the area no more than {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of your home in every direction. Districts vary in size from place to place, but local means, in this instance, close to home. A potential candidate should understand the important aspects of running a political campaign. The following insider tips provided are to help you increase your chances of winning a local election.
Steps
- Decide which elected position you believe you can have the most impact. Evaluate your skill set, experience and interests. This will help you determine which position and sector of government (County, City, State.) your skill set will best serve the community
- Determine if you have access to the finances needed to run a political campaign. Running for political office can be very expensive. Alternatively, you can pursue your candidacy in a more grass roots effort as a way to keep your campaign cost low.
- Gather feedback of those close to you, individuals in the community, and local organizations on your decision to run for elected office to get an idea of the support you have in your community.
- Research your community. It is very important that you look beyond just what you believe needs changing. Other people have ideas too. Actively engage your community on what they fell needs improvement.
- Make a list of community leaders that your community respects and trust. Visit with these people to seek advice, counsel, and ask them for a possible endorsement of your run for political office.
- After visiting with the community and community leaders, create a platform you believe best serves your community. Then create your "stump" speech, this is the speech that defines why you are a good candidate, how you intend to improve the community, and most importantly, ask for their support.
- Depending on the sector of government you are running for election, you may consider hiring a campaign manager or recruiting an experienced community leader to volunteer to help coordinate your political campaign. A good campaign manager will be smart, motivated, organized, and willing to work just as hard as you. They handle your calendar, appointments, and minor details.
- Know your limits, both mentally and physically. Running for political office can be an exhausting enterprise, no matter what sector of government you are targeting. A political campaign is a 24 hour operation, it does not end until the polls close on election day. Good advice is to think of it as a marathon, not a sprint, meaning find a comfortable pace that you can maintain for the duration of your campaign..
- By now your engaging the community has inspired volunteers that would like to support your candidacy. It is up to you to motivate the volunteers, it is your campaign managers (if you have one) to managing them. Organization is crucial to ensuring these volunteers are utilized in an effective way. Make sure to properly take care of volunteers, after all they are working long hours right along with you for no pay.
- A successful campaign most often has a massive door to door component that allows the candidate to meet more of the community, and engage them to find what they feel needs improvement.It also allows the candidate to ask for permission to place a yard sign supporting his candidacy. Yard signs are a great way for people to see a visual representation of the support you have in the community. People really appreciate seeing the candidate in person, and feel good that you personally asked for their vote. Especially when they visit the polls on election day!
- Create pamphlets, banners, bumper stickers, buttons, and signs to disperse door to door, at community events,in parks, anywhere there are people you and your volunteers should not be far behind. Consider a mass mailing of your campaign literature to targeting frequent voters. Note: it is important all local laws concerning campaign literature be respected.
- Organize events that allow people in the community to come meet the candidate. These events do not have to be large or fancy. They are to provide you with a venue to share your plan, and why you are the best person to serve their community. Again, the most important part of your talks, must be to ask for their vote. These events are also a great way to get the press to write about your bid for office. In many cities it is difficult, not impossible, to get press coverage for local elections, but that doesn't mean you should not try.
- Your campaign can release press releases to the local media, but do not count on them to continually print stories on your election. It can be to your strategic advantage to purchase ads in the local newspapers or run commercials on your local radio station, but there is a cost involved. Consult with your campaign manager, or if you are running your campaign, consider the effectiveness of the effort. You should know if your community reads the papers or which station is the most popular. If you can't answer these questions, you need to be working harder. Period. If you do not know what your community likes, how can you expect them to elect you to serve their best interest?
- Fundraisers can be big or small, it's not the size of the crowd, it's the size of the donations. Depending upon the office being sought or how you, the candidate, determined to run your campaign early on will influence fundraising. Did you decide to spend, spend, spend or did you choose the grass roots approach. Both styles have won elections, it is a decision you must make as a candidate. Consider your communities views when determining your campaign budget. You must know if they believe a large flashy campaign is impressive or is your community more impressed by the candidate working hard at the grass roots level. In a local election more often then not, it is the amount of people you engage, rather then amount of dollars in the campaign war chest. Note: Campaign finance laws are very strict, and it is important that you have a person that is capable of proper accounting.
- There is no easy, sure fire way to win any political office, but if you follow the above advice, you increase your chances of winning. You may have noticed that above there is no mention of opposition, because as a candidate, the only candidacy you should be concerned with is your own. Do not waste your time discussing your opponent, that time could have been better used to prove you are the best candidate.
- In local elections the most important factor is personal contact with voters. There are lots of people today, that will have you believe that you need to craft a persona, or spend lots of money to impress potential voters. Wrong! Time and time again, the candidate who walks the most miles, shakes the most hands, and rings the most doorbells almost always wins. In a local election, you make your race about the people, and you do your best to meet every frequent voter in area.
Tips
- If possible announce your candidacy early, to discourage others from entering the same race.
- Campaigns are won through diligence and hard work, and a large part of that comes from surrounding yourself with good people. Recruit dependable people that you can trust, and always take great care of all your volunteers.
- Have Fun! Running for office is serious, but if you should enjoy meeting new people, going new places, and fighting for what you believe!
- Consult with your family, because like it or not they become a part of your political aspirations, and they too will suffer the ups and downs. It is best to prepare them ahead of time for what could happen. In politics, local or national, anything within the law could happen.
- Create a plan that you believe. You will be repeating it over and over throughout the entire election, and if you do not believe in your plan, neither will the voters.
Warnings
- Research all legal qualifications for the elected office you intend to run to be sure you meet the criteria
- Be sure to know all of the local election laws in the area you intend to run for elected office
- Holding an elected position allows your background to brought into the public domain. Before running consider any of your past you may consider embarrassing or private. This includes your family as well, all politics can be a dirty business, and some people involved consider nothing or no one off limits.
- It is known to cause premature aging, and severe health decline. Don't believe it? Google pictures of the last four Presidents before they took office, then compare those pictures to how they look upon leaving office. This is offered in jest, but meant to prove a point. You may not be running for politics, but politics at all levels is stressful.
Related Articles
- Conduct a Local Election Exit Poll
- Absentee Vote in Wisconsin
- Get Involved in Local Politics
- Win a Campaign
