A political campaign is an organized effort to elect candidates to public office or pass ballot initiatives. It usually involves a large group of volunteers and paid staffers who identify, persuade, organize, and mobilize supporters of the candidate or cause.
Each election cycle (two years) thousands of campaigns are organized nationwide. These range in size from small, local operations of two or three volunteers to large, federal operations of hundreds of volunteers and paid staffers. Campaigns are run for the presidency, senators and representatives, state legislative seats, county executive offices, and city or town council positions. In addition, there are numerous judicial races in every state and ballot initiative efforts in some states.
Campaign work provides an excellent opportunity to gain a variety of professional skills in a fast-paced environment. It also gives a unique perspective into electoral politics and the cares and concerns of elected officials and the American public. In many cases, it paves the way for a career in policymaking or in other policy-adjacent fields.
Unless you have an inside connection, it will be difficult to land a top-level position in a campaign. However, if you get involved early in a campaign’s life cycle and stay engaged, you can work your way up to a senior role. It is also common for winning campaigns to hire senior staff from losing primary campaigns. This is especially true when a primary race becomes particularly nasty and could damage the reputation of the winner.