How to Run for Local Office

I used to consider myself a pro in elective politics on a very small scale, but I lost direction and purpose as I tried to move up the food chain. Indeed, I may have succumbed to the Peter Principle. As I changed to another career, I eventually discarded all my electioneering material I accumulated over the years, finding that I sorely missed the material once I became involved just recently in a local issue-related campaign. Hence, my buying "How to Run for Local Office: A Complete, Step-By-Step Guide that Will Take You Through the Entire Process of Running and Winning a Local Election." I was not disappointed. It contained essentially everything I learned over the years while campaigning. But instead of a shelf of material, all the basics are here in this book. The one thing that is lacking is a template for campaign plans, event check-off sheets, et al. First timers, this is a must buy.

My opponent was the favored incumbent. She received the endorsement of the local newspaper AND her name was listed on the ballot before mine. All of these small things added up to sure and sudden defeat, right? Well, not so fast! I purchased Mayor Thomas' book and followed the recommendations to the letter. Almost every suggestion, if not perfect for my situation, could be modified slightly to fit my situation. I had never run for local office before and had, literally, no idea where to begin. This book contained practical, logical, sound advice. I developed my "inner circle" and we found the "good voters" in just the fashion Mayor Thomas said we would. "How To Run For Local Office" also gave me the confidence to create a detailed plan and stick to it. If you're running for local office, you need to do two things. BUY this book, and hope your opponent doesn't!

I believe the title of my review says it all. Almost. Before I bought the book, I had never delved into politics. I think that, added to winning two contested elections in two years, says everything. One for county party committee, one for borough council. UPDATE: Make that three now on locally elected positions and two for state wide party positions. In 2005, I ran for and won a contested election for Mayor.

This thin book is excellent at detailing the aspects of successful political campaigns.It is a very good "how-to" primer. Really an expanded to-do list for organizing and executing a campaign for local office, this book is a fine aid for those new to the process. All the topics are coverd -- from organizing and planning to ordering yard signs, doing brochures and how to get out the vote on Election Day.As a local candidate myself (six runs for the State House - successful), I can attest to the depth of coverage provided by this book.It is stripped down, with few words wasted. There is not much background information provided nor framework for the lists of things to do. This will perhaps leave skeptics wanting more information. However, it is a good primer and would be an excellent aid to first time local candidates and campaign managers.I'm teaching a course in elective politics at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Center of Government. This is one of the required reading books for the course and is also used by some other teachers in the field at colleges and universities around the country.

A friend bought me this book for Christmas because I was thinking of running for office. I didn't think much of the book until I sat down to read it. What a great book! This book dosen't waste your time reading through a lot of useless material to get to the point. I already had some ideas as to how I was going to run my campaign. After I sat down to read the book, I realized that some of my ideas would have wasted a lot of my time and money. Now, with the advice from this book I will be able to put on a much more effective campaign. I have a few friends who are thinking of running for office and I plan to do them a favor and buy them this book.