A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided.
A HOW-TO GUIDE FOR FIRST-TIME
POLITICAL CANDIDATES
BY ERIC JAYE AND CL AY TON KOO
101 STEPS
TO VICTORY
Run for
Office and WIN
S T E P S T O V I C T O R Y
2
Even the greatest was
once a beginner. Don't be
afraid to take the first step.
MUHAMMAD ALI
R U N F O R O F F I C E A N D W I N
3
Congratulations!
YOU ARE CONSIDERING A RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE. We suspect you have many questions
about what is ahead and how you can make sure your first run for office is successful. While there are
thousands of steps you must take, we've written this guide to outline the 101 most important things a
first-time political candidate needs to know to keep your campaign on the path to victory.
We are political consultants who have helped manage hundreds of winning campaigns. Eric Jaye
is the founder of Storefront Political Media and co-founder of campaign technology companies
SpeakEasyPolitical.com and StorefrontDigital.com. Clayton Koo works as an Account Strategist at
Storefront Political Media and is himself a successful candidate for school board in his hometown. We
have combined our experience managing campaigns and running for office to create this guide.
Right off you'll notice a few themes we keep emphasizing. We come back again and again to the basic
fundamentals we think almost all winning campaigns combine. In short, they are:
Campaigns are won by candidates not lawn signs, algorithms, secret plans or Svengali-
like consultants. All things being equal (and by things we mean money), the best candidate
usually wins. Your candidacy is defined by how prepared you are, how focused you are and
how you conduct yourself over the course of your campaign.
Candidates who know why they are running usually win. Believe it or not, many candidates
can't articulate a compelling reason for running. Focus first on why you are running and then
turn your attention to how you are going to win.
You will need to raise money. If you can't bring yourself to ask friends, family and supporters
for