A political campaign is the effort to elect a candidate or pass a ballot initiative. Campaigns can range from small, local operations to large, national ones with thousands of paid and volunteer staffers. Regardless of the size, every election cycle (typically two years) thousands of campaigns are organized across the country. Some are a few months long, while others last up to two years. The duration and scale of a campaign depends on the type of office being run, with US House and Senate races, state legislative races and governorships generally having the most structure while ballot initiatives have less.
Choosing the right campaign to work on is crucial, and it will depend on your career goals, how flexible you are with regard to travel, and whether you want to remain in politics after the campaign. Those with a strong preference for specific issues should focus on finding opportunities to work on those candidates’ campaigns and avoid working on campaigns for issues they dislike or do not share. Likewise, those who do not want to stay in politics should prioritize campaigns for elected officials who hold positions they support and avoid challenging incumbents unless they have the experience and reputation to handle this more difficult task.
It is also important to understand the partisan structure of a race, as most opportunities are partisan and switching parties can incur reputational and professional costs. To help with this decision, we have developed a tool for considering the best options based on your unique goals and circumstances.