• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Career / 10 Steps to Win a Political Office: We Asked the Experts

10 Steps to Win a Political Office: We Asked the Experts

January 30, 2020 //  by Madison Peek

Shares52FacebookTweet

No one likes to lose. We all want to succeed at everything, get it right the first time, feel the adrenaline of a job well done. Unfortunately, we all have to lose sometimes and in our losses, we learn the most valuable lessons about life. Of course, political candidates also want to win their races, but may find that their losses teach them a lot.

In life, to learn how to win, you have to also learn how to lose.

David Wilson ran for the Maryland State Senate District 15 seat in 2018. Despite losing to incumbent State Senator Brian Feldman, Wilson does not regret running for office and learned many valuable lessons that he looks forward to applying to other races in the future. In an interview, he shares some of these lessons. 

1. Know Why You’re Running

washington dc
unsplash.com

To run for office, you need dedication and a really good reason, because the process is long, strenuous and expensive.  For David Wilson, his bid for office began with his ideal of servant-leadership. His father, a minister, had always emphasized the importance of servant-leadership and Wilson’s military career serving the country further reinforced the idea, which permeated his life. “You have to run for yourself and have your motivations,” University of Maryland public policy Professor Gerard Evans said. Your campaign really begins the moment that you know what the reason for it is, so making the decision becomes a very important step.

2. Get Some Experience

taking notes
unsplash.com

Political candidates need experience in the field at any level, although it could take many forms. Wilson earned a master’s degree in public relations and also interned for former State Senator Nancy Jacobs for a year. “I really just fell in love with being able to communicate with people and help them solve problems that they couldn’t solve themselves,” Wilson said. Evans also found that experience was key in entering the political sphere. He interned with Mike Miller, the long-sitting president of the Maryland State Senate, and through what he described as a “baptism by fire” experience, Evans found that he loved public policy and wanted to get involved in the sphere. Getting experience helps you build experience in the field, which you can use for your future career. You’ll also get to know if you truly enjoy the job and are a good fit. 

3. Become Involved in Your Area 

involvement
pxhere.com

Depending on what level of government you want to run in, you’ll need to be involved in the political party, office or department. Wilson’s political career began when he went to the Montgomery County Republican Party and asked how he could volunteer. With a party’s backing, you can begin to run a race. Connections become essential to entering politics — the people you encounter through internships, that you get referred to, or you go out and meet will help you get involved and set you on the right path. Becoming involved in your area may become the fast track to serving in office. 

4. Build a Strong Support System 

Obama family
en.wikipedia.org

To run a successful race, you’ll need a strong team to help you with their expertise, to support you and to delegate tasks to. Wilson emphasizes the importance of having a good team — people who have expertise outside yours prove essential to building your campaign. For Wilson, this took the form of having someone to help with social media, building a website and spreading the workload of knowing all the important issues, legislatures and policies. Professor Evans says two teams become essential to running your election: your professional team and your family.“You need a supportive family, because when you run a political race, the whole family runs,” Evans said. In life, you always want a strong, supportive team by your side and in a political race, you’ll need your team even more.

5. Have Some Key Issues in Your Platform

map of maryland
commons.wikimedia.org

To appeal to the voters, you’ll need to pick key issues central to your platform. These issues need relevance to the voters and importance to you. For Wilson, his key issues “developed along the way,” but he started with key values. “We need honesty, we need integrity, we need transparency,”  Wilson said. He began developing his platform by taking cues from others in his party, like Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who represented Wilson’s constituency on a broader level. Your platform symbolizes you as a candidate — make them personal and strong!

6. Look at the Numbers…

voting
en.wikipedia.org

To run for office successfully, you need to know who you will represent and what issues they care about. Knowing the numbers also helps you know your chances to get elected into office. David Wilson cites looking at the numbers as the greatest weakness of his campaign. In the district Wilson was running for, the voting population consisted of 50,000 Democrats, 25,000 Independents, 23,000 Republicans. These numbers became the downfall of his campaign. Wilson knew the numbers going into the campaign, however, they did not dictate his decision to run. However, knowing the numbers may prove important and prevent you from losing an expensive, time-consuming race.

7. …But Know They’re Not Just Numbers 

vote
flickr.com

At the end of your successful campaign, you will represent the people, so you need to get to know them during the campaign race in order to best represent them — whether they voted for you or not. Wilson’s greatest lessons from the campaign came out of the large number of people he met and talked to. He expected people of different political parties to act close-minded towards him because of his Republican political party, but he had many genuine one-on-one conversations with people and encountered very few people unwilling to listen to him. This reinforced the importance of well-roundedness to Wilson because if you win, the constituents consist of both Republicans and Democrats. The most important part of running for office: the people. Valuing them as people and not numbers will help for a successful campaign.

8. Make Decisions About Your Campaign Early

i want you
giphy.com

It’s necessary to make thousands of decisions throughout your campaign- however, your early ones may prove the most important. How much time will you devote to your campaign? How will the campaign impact you personally? What do you want to get out of running for office? “You need to make tough decisions in your campaign,” Evans said. These important decisions could choose the members of your political team or policy choices and impact your whole campaign. These decisions will drive your campaign. Wilson made his most important decision early on, which prevented his campaign from impacting him personally. Your early decisions will aid the direction of your campaign. 

9. Take Notes

obama campaign
commons.wikimedia.org

A campaign needs organization, reflection and adaptability. Evans explains that because we live in a digital age where everything is recorded and documented, a political candidate needs concise notes to run a cohesive campaign. “You need a very clear policy — you can’t go to one person and say you’re pro-life, then go to another and say you’re pro-choice. You need clear notes for this reason,” Evans stated. Wilson recommends taking notes as a way to reflect on campaigning; he noted what worked and what didn’t. With these cues, he can run a better race. Documenting your political campaign has a variety of benefits, including bettering your campaign, self-reflection and having notes for future races. 

10. Be Ready to Run Again 

bernie sanders
giphy.com

Win or lose, this political race may not end your career. “Running again will be easier than the first time,” Evans said. For this reason, many people opt to run many times.“You can take your information, your knowledge, your experience and your information to help you next time,” Wilson said. Despite losing, he remains hopeful for races in the future and had many lessons from this political run. When it comes to such a difficult process like running for political office, you need all the research possible; it certainly takes more than ten steps, but you can find a place to start.

Shares52FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Career How to Get a Job

About Madison Peek

Madison Peek is a journalism major at the University of Maryland. Currently in her free time she likes to watch true crime documentaries, drink caffeine and pray for Ruth Bader Ginsburg's health.

You May Also Like

Painting strokes image

CM Creates: How to Become a Professional Painter

5 Tips for Getting Your Social Media Ready for the Professional World

resume styles

College Magazine’s Guide to Resume Styles for Landing the Job

Community College Professor walks through the halls

Higher Education: Why Teaching Community College Makes the Ideal Career

College Magazine’s Guide to the Engineering Major

Writer

How to Use Your Creative Writing Degree: 10 Tips and Tricks

corporate

7 Insider Tips on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder

career development

How Your College Career Center Can Land You a Job During COVID-19

how to become a software engineer

College Magazine’s Guide to Becoming a Software Engineer

CM Guide Health Science

College Magazine’s Guide to the Health Science Major

Overview of three people at a desk working

Work in the Way? 10 Guilt-Free Reasons To Leave Your Job

10 Office Ethics Commandments That Apply to Daily Life

What Is a Good Credit Score and How Do I Get One of Those?

10 Invaluable Skills You Get from Learning and Working Virtually

future teacher

CM’s Ultimate Guide to the English Education Major

Finance Managers

Become the Next Warren Buffett: CM’s Guide to Portfolio Management

cover letter

The Cover Letter: Your Secret Weapon into the Professional World

peace corps

Top 10 Well-Kept Secrets to Succeeding in the Peace Corps

online portfolio

10 Steps to Building an Impressive Online Portfolio in 2020

woman on the phone

Bridge the Gap: CM’s Guide to the Interpreting Profession

internships

How To Make Your Internship Work For You

professionals working together

CM’s Guide to the Public Relations Major

doctors medical school good majors for medical school

10 Good Majors For Med School that Aren’t Biology

woman working a remote job

Remote Job Offers: 10 Tips to Help You Make Up Your Mind

Previous Post: « Top 10 Horror Films of 2019
Next Post: The One With 15 Friends TV Show Gifts friends tv show gifts»

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

CampusLife_sm
53

CM’s Top 10 Schools Doing Residential Life Right

coffee w heart
14

A Barista’s Guide to Making Delicious Coffee Drinks at Home

6

5 Tips for Getting Your Social Media Ready for the Professional World

Featured Chapter: UCLA

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.