Your Step-by-Step Guide to Winning a Local Election
“You mean, break up with her?” I asked.
“Well, maybe it’s time to just pull the ripcord,” said Josh, my campaign manager. “You seem pretty distraught about it.”
We were about mid-way through the summer stretch of my first campaign for councillor-at-large, and I was stressed.
I was looking for some way to relieve the stress, and ending my months-old relationship with a pretty-awesome person was starting to look like an option.
I was so stressed out, in fact, that I had already spent at least one full weekend practically bedridden with a painful stomach ache (I assumed an ulcer).
It turns out that running for public office is no walk in the park.
However, now that I’ve done it twice I can tell you that it’s totally worth it.
So if you’re interested in running for local office (municipal, county, etc.), here’s a handy guide based on the steps I took.
Oh, and for the record, I stuck with my girlfriend and now she’s my wife ;)
Step 1: Help out with someone else’s campaign first
If you’re reading this because there’s an election in two months and you’re thinking about running, think twice.
This guide assumes you’re planning at least a year in advance.
That’s because a key criteria for campaign success is that people know who you are and they trust you to do a good job if you win.
So, while a campaign is an excellent way to build a community presence and experience, it’s better if it’s someone else’s campaign.
Personally, I took an opportunity to manage the social media presence of a well-respected deputy mayor four years before my own first campaign.
The knowledge I gained was valuable; the network I built was invaluable.
Step 2: Build and work with your connections
Ok, I’m just going to say it: elections are a popularity contest.
If you’re a principled person at all, that statement might make you cringe.
However, it helps to view this fact through the right lense. If popularity is really just being known and liked, then your job is to be well-known and well-liked — for the right reasons.
A great way to get there is by working with lots of people. I met a lot of people while working on the deputy mayor’s campaign, and I continued to stay in touch with them long after the fact.
I did that by joining their initiatives and helping out. I joined the heritage advocacy organization; I got a seat on the downtown improvement board; I volunteered for the local board of trade events committee.
Not only was I hobnobbing with the movers and shakers of the community, contributing to their success and building a positive reputation; I was building a fantastic network who would vouch for me when the time came to run.
Step 3: Lead or contribute to a project lots of people care about
If working on the deputy mayor campaign was the first big step for me, the next one was leading a community organization.
Shortly after the election, a big public issue reared its head: a property developer wanted to tear down a bunch of heritage buildings and a lot of people in the community got riled up.
Because I stayed connected to the folks from that campaign, I was in a position to join the dialogue and helped organize a public meeting about it.
The media had conveyed the issue in a “for or against” way, but our online discussion group showed a very large middle ground where folks were just looking for “thoughtful development” in their community.
The developer withdrew their proposal, but a few of us wanted to foster this middle ground mentality and started an organization called “Happy City”.
I took the lead in the early days, and it was absolutely my springboard to politics because it put me at the center of a movement that a lot of people cared about.
You may not have the opportunity to lead or be the spokesperson for something “big” in time for your election, but you can definitely play a major role in addressing issues that matter to lots of people.
Step 4: Decide you’re going to run well in advance
I sort of got the bug to run during the deputy mayor campaign, but I really started taking concrete actions about 1.5–2 years prior to election day.
For example, I made the decision to transition my career to freelance so I’d have more flexibility in my schedule. I started going to public Council meetings to get a sense of how things worked and what the job would be like.
Most importantly, everything I did was now done through a lens of “how does this fit with my candidacy?” It actually motivated me to contribute more in my volunteer capacities and find ways to help people solve problems.
Knowing you’re going to run well in advance gives you the space to prepare yourself, your family and friends, and your community for your eventual campaign.
Step 5: Run the race you can win
I personally think this one is extremely important.
I hear a lot of potential candidates hedging their bets. They don’t expect to win, and say things like “I’ll run for the experience” and “It’ll get my name out there for next time.”
I don’t like this view. It’s non-committal. I’ve already told you how to get experience and exposure, so if you’re going to run, run to win.
If you’re going to run, run to win.
I had actually entertained the idea of running for council in 2009 when I helped the deputy mayor. I quickly decided it was not the right time — winning would have been a serious uphill battle.
Then, as I prepared for 2013, I had a choice of running for a ward (district) or as an “at large” candidate.
At first I was convinced the ward campaign was best: it was a smaller number of people to convince (and doors to knock), and it was where I lived and worked.
Two key factors changed my mind. First, the number of candidates running for the ward was looking to be large (it ended up being 18 or something). That’s a lot of people to compete against for votes.
Second, the at-large race was actually to fill four seats. In other words, the top four vote counts would get to sit in those four seats. And only two of the incumbents were going to run again, which meant two seats were “open”.
Now, you may not have the option of which race to run — maybe you can only run in the district you live, for example. If that’s the case, then you should still assess your chances of winning. Maybe this isn’t your year.
With that said, I do see the value in running to shape which issues are publicly debated. If that’s your goal, then make sure your strategy is designed to maximize that goal.
Step 6: Build a core team of very-select individuals
Campaigns can get hairy. You want to keep things as simple as possible — including the makeup of your core team.
Here are the key three roles you should fill with individuals you trust and enjoy working with.
- Campaign Manager — Oversees the campaign strategy and makes sure everyone knows what they have to do (and that they’re doing it). This person should be passionate about your candidacy; an effective people person; and a lover of the political game.
- Communications Lead — While you are the primary communicator for your own candidacy, having someone to manage your message across all media is critical. This person should have a PR background (or bent); have a solid understanding of social and traditional media; and have their finger on the pulse of your community.
- Volunteer Coordinator — Volunteers are the lifeblood of any campaign, and it is your duty to ensure they are engaged, organized, and enthusiastic. Choose someone who is highly organized, friendly, and businesslike when necessary.
You can have (and will need) many other folks involved in your campaign, but they should be coordinated by the three people described above.
You will have plenty of things to do as a candidate, so delegate as much as you can! Your responsibility is to set the tone and direction for the campaign; leave the rest up to your core team.
Step 7: Involve a lot of (trusted) people in brainstorming your plan
Maybe you’re running because you want to fix a specific issue in your community. Maybe you don’t like the way your government operates and you want to change that. Maybe you think politics should be done differently and you want to be an example for others.
Whatever your reasons for running, it’s important to know your voters’ reasons for voting.
Your engagement in the community will certainly help you gauge what matters to people. The challenge is to incorporate that knowledge into a strategy that aligns with your own principles and character.
For my campaign, this meant two things:
- lots of one-on-one meetings with stakeholder representatives and people experienced in campaigns; and
- two or three large, roundtable discussions to hash out what mattered to people and how it should shape my platform.
Humility helps you craft your strategy. Try to include as diverse a group of perspectives as possible. For our roundtable sessions, I chaired them but we made sure to include an experienced facilitator to keep us organized and constructive.
Step 8: Know why you’re running
The could arguably be Step 1, because it’s foundational to your candidacy.
However, I put it here because your “why” should remain somewhat fluid until you’ve had a lot of serious discussion with a lot of diverse voices.
You may have your own personal reasons for running, but when you’re looking to serve others, it’s helpful to know why they want you to, too.
Humility helps you craft your strategy.
For me, my personal reason was “I want to understand how a city works and help it work better”. The “external” reason was the need for a more inclusive way of making decisions — i.e., better public engagement.
I shaped my campaign messaging around that external “why”, and it ultimately informed the way I would govern as well.
Step 9: Hire an expert to do your advertising
Ok you’ve got your purpose. Now you need to convey that to people in the community — and convince a majority of them to vote for you.
Most people are not that focused on elections. They have busy lives, and besides… “politicians are all the same”.
Hire a professional to make your presence crisp, concise, and consistent. This will help you stand out from the crowd and ensure you’re remembered.
I was extremely fortunate to be working for a local marketing agency when I decided to run. They knew me and they knew the community.
Engaging with them was my biggest cost, and it was worth every cent.
Step 10: Be extremely targeted in your spending
Unless you live in a small community or have spending caps, you’re going to have to raise (and spend) money.
There are lots of ways to fundraise, but my main advice is to spend well on high-impact things, and scrimp on everything else.
Examples of where to spend, spend, spend:
- Marketing — I’m biased here (see Step 9), but I really believe that getting experts to professionally manage your branding and advertising is huge. They will make you stand out and be remembered, which is the whole point of a campaign.
- Signage — We put a lot of effort and money into this. Our branding was crisp, our placement was strategic, and we put them out early. Pro tip: lawn signs are a very personal, compelling endorsement. Get as many as possible.
Where to cut, cut, cut:
- Physical “HQ” (don’t have one) — While connecting with real people is essential, in today’s world of social media, remote work, and shared spaces, do you really need to rent a streetfront headquarters? We didn’t, and the only impact we saw was a lower expense line.
- Mail-outs — This one was a mixed bag for me. Mailing brochures can be costly, but having your face in every mailbox is huge. So we organized volunteer hand-deliveries. It engaged our supporters, but we only got about half of them out — meaning half the printing costs were wasted.
Step 11: Announce your campaign early
When you announce early, you’re giving voters more time to get to know you.
Ideally you want to time your public announcement close enough to the election that it’s both newsworthy and earlier than your (main) competitors. Once others start announcing, you’re more likely to be lost in the noise.
In a perfect world, your announcement could be perceived as the unofficial kick-off to the election season. Just don’t forget to invite the media!
Step 12: Be selective with your time
There’s a lot to be said for being in as many people’s faces as possible.
However, simply “going to all the events” and “knocking on all the doors” is not a sound strategy; your (and your voters’) time and energy are valuable.
Go only to events where you’ll have ample chance to mingle, particularly those that are designed for self-promotion.
Hot take: Knocking on doors ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Door knocking is absolutely valuable, but it’s labour-intensive and its impact is hard to measure. And, frankly, these days a lot of people don’t like having their lives interrupted by a stranger standing in their doorway.
In my estimation, there are two benefits to door-knocking:
- Voters get a chance to learn you exist and to know the real you; and
- You get to learn the burning issues in different neighbourhoods.
So here’s how our team approached it.
We took an assessment of the “culture” of the various neighbourhoods in the city and chose to go door-to-door in the more tight-knit communities.
These were the places where people know their neighbours, and they put high value on the chance to tell their representatives what matters to them.
Other communities, we found, were made up largely of folks who sort of kept to themselves, focusing on their careers and/or families, etc.
It’s not that they weren’t important to reach out to. On the contrary, their insular nature made it harder to find out what they need from government.
We just did a few “random samplings” of these neighbourhoods to figure out their main issues, which we then spoke about in other media.
Step 13: Run past the finish line
It’s common to slow down or “take a break” when a finish line is in sight.
Because voting is done by mail in my city, we started saying “well, the campaign’s basically over” near the end because most people had voted.
Fortunately my volunteer coordinator knocked some sense into us and we mustered up the energy to do some final “get out the vote” on voting day (there were a limited number of in-person polls).
It was shocking how many people hadn’t voted, and would not have done had we not called them.
Ultimately we won our campaign by about 100 votes, and I chalk that up to pushing ourselves to the very end.
Step 14: Write a gracious acceptance (and concession) speech
Even if it’s just in your living room to your key peeps, saying a few words of thanks is extremely important.
A political campaign is ultimately not about you — it’s about the people you will serve. And the people who helped you get here have given a chunk of their lives on your behalf.
A thank you speech — whether in victory or defeat — is a chance to recognize how much effort people have given for something ultimately you wanted.
It’s helpful during the campaign to keep track of the people who devote the most time or make unique contributions so you can thank them by name. Start this list as soon as possible.
Word to the wise: open your speech by thanking your partner.
Your Roadmap to Public Office
To recap, here’s how to prepare for and run a successful campaign for your town, city, county, or other local election:
- Help out with someone else’s campaign first
- Build and work with your connections
- Lead or contribute to a project lots of people care about
- Decide you’re going to run well in advance
- Run the race you can win
- Build a core team of very-select individuals
- Involve a lot of (trusted) people in brainstorming your plan
- Know why you’re running
- Hire an expert to do your advertising
- Be extremely targeted in your spending
- Announce your campaign early
- Be selective with your time
- Run past the finish line
- Write a gracious acceptance speech
Of crouse, this is just the path I took, and is definitely not the be-all, end-all.
What matters most is being present in the community, contributing to things that matter, and being authentic about your values and intentions.
That’s the foundation upon which to build a winning campaign.
