Killer Campaigning: Political Campaign & Election Strategy

Matt in Utah sends this week’s election question for Killer Campaigning:
When candidates in a local elections are designing yard signs, brochures, billboards and etcetera, should they create a unique political campaign logo that everyone will recognize?  I am thinking of candidates for higher office, like presidential, senatorial and governors, who have their own campaign logos [...]

One common mistake made by new candidates in local elections is not including their political campaign committee disclaimer on materials that are paid for from their campaign fund.  Let’s take a quick look at political campaign disclaimer requirements to make sure that you don’t run afoul of election ethics laws in your state.
A printed political [...]

What would professional politicians do without campaign consultants?  Political campaign consulting is a lucrative business, especially if you can get on board with winning candidates who have lofty ambitions and fundraising skills.  There are political consulting firms that rake in millions of dollars a year, and more during busy election cycles.  While a lot of [...]

If you want to know how to be a political candidate and  run for office in a local election, then part of planning a great campaign is choosing the race that you are most likely to win.
It’s not surprising, though, that most potential candidates who are interested in public service don’t even know all of [...]

Here’s a quick and effective political campaign idea that I’ve used in my own runs for local office: the monthly press release to local newspapers and media.
Most local candidates in smaller races don’t start campaigning until the last month of election season.  Many of them end up winning their race, of course, but it’s usually [...]

Gary, a candidate who is running a political campaign for local office in North Carolina, sends Killer Campaigning this question:
Hi Phil, my name is Gary B. and I am a political candidate in a local election in a small city in North Carolina.  This is my first time running a political campaign of my own, [...]

I’m often asked by political candidates what methods and strategies are most effective in a local election campaign.  As a former political campaign consultant and a current elected official, I’ve been able to test just about every candidate marketing vehicle you can think of, and have a pretty good general feel for what works and [...]

Poll after poll has shown that voters in congressional, statewide and presidential elections severely dislike negative campaigning. Ask almost anyone and they’ll agree: one of the most distasteful things about political campaigns is when a candidate decides to “go negative” on an opponent.
There’s just one little problem: in spite of the public’s nearly unanimous [...]

What if I told you that there was a surefire way for any first-time candidate to win a local political election?  It’s the truth: and this campaign secret isn’t a tactic that your opponents are likely to use even if they do know about it.
The secret to winning local elections (races for office like school [...]

Here’s a question we got recently from Susan, a fan of Killer Campaigning who’s trying to figure out which office she should run for in her first political campaign election:
Hi, any ideas on what the easiest race to win might be for as first time political candidate.  I have wanted to run for political office for a a while [...]