Campaign to WIN a High School Class President Election
I got a fun question today from one of our younger Killer Campaigning readers:
Hi Phil, I’m a high school student and I’m thinking about running for Class President next year. Are there any tips you have for those of us who want to run for student government?
The first election I ever won was for class president in high school, so this is a question that I have a little bit of relevant experience to draw upon. My school was very small, though, and I didn’t have to do any campaigning to win. If I were a high school student running for class president or student government in a large school today, there’s a checklist of things I’d follow to help guarantee a win.
The first–and here’s a bit of shameless self-promotion–is to subscribe to the Killer Campaigning RSS feed right away (and follow us on Twitter and Facebook). The daily tips we publish can apply to campaigns on all levels . . . even high school elections. And if you plan on staying in politics after graduation, then you’ll want to keep up-to-date on all of the best campaign advice.
Okay, let’s get on with it. Here are five good rules to follow if you want to win your high school class presidential or student body election:
1. Concentrate on name recognition and perception, NOT policy
In actual elections for government office, policy positions usually have a lot to do with who votes for you at the polls. Unfortunately, very few high school students are going to care what policies you plan to promote if elected.
Instead, concentrate on promoting your name recognition and general perception among other students. In my school, everyone knew who everyone else was (and what they ate for breakfast that morning). But if you go to a really large school, odds are that there are many students who won’t be very familiar with your name.
2. Show them that you want the job more than anyone else
Even if there’s a more popular kid running against you in the class election, you can get a lot of converts to your cause if you show them how badly you want the job. You do this by working hard, talking to as many students as you can, and letting everyone know how seriously you take the election.
This is great advice for all types of political candidates. People like to vote for candidates who work hard, and their perception of how much you want the job will bear greatly on their choice at the ballot box.
3. Avoid drama and negative campaigning
Negative campaigning can backfire easily in real-world political elections, but it should be avoided at all costs in a high school election. You don’t want your campaign to devolve into a finger-pointing gossip-fest, especially in today’s world of text messages and MySpace pages.
Instead, focus on promoting yourself rather than talking bad about your opponents. If you are asked about the other people who are running, just say that you respect them, but don’t know enough about them to comment. Shift attention away from your opponents and back toward your candidacy.
4. Ask them personally to vote for you
Personally asking a person for their vote is probably the single most effective campaign tactic that a candidate can employ. The problem is that in elections that take place in large districts, it’s impossible to personally contact every single voter.
Luckily for you, a candidate in a high school election actually can contact every single voter if he or she gets a good head start on things. If there are a few thousand kids in your high school, start talking to as many students as you can a few months before the election.
How you want to organize and keep track of contacts is up to you, but don’t be afraid to both meet students in person and give them a personal call at home to ask for their vote.
One word of warning, though: don’t overdo it, especially in a high school election. Talking with a student one time, and asking them to consider voting for you, is probably enough.
5. Cheesy campaign trinkets actually work in high school elections
I usually tell political candidates to avoid spending money on chintzy campaign trinkets like pens with their names printed on them, but these can actually help in a high school election.
You might not have any kind of a budget to spend on campaign materials, but if you do, drop a few bucks on some fun trinkets like pens or small footballs. Make sure your name is printed on them, and pass them out to students just before the election (if your school allows you to, of course).
Kids love free stuff, and they’re much more likely to vote for you because of a cool trinket than they are for your policy positions and political acumen.
Related Political Campaign & Local Election Strategies: