If you are on the April 6, 2027 ballot, your final 12 weeks run from Monday, January 11 to Election Day, Tuesday, April 6. Inside that stretch are three dates that shape everything: the ballot is certified on January 28, early voting opens on February 25 (or March 12 where a February primary ran), and the election is April 6. The plan below gives each week one main job, so the work lands in the right order: doors and list-building first, then turnout once people can actually vote.
The April 6 track covers school, park, library, community college, fire protection and forest preserve boards, independent and new-party municipal candidates, and most nonpartisan villages (confirm for your village). All dates below come from the Illinois State Board of Elections 2027 calendar. Confirm anything specific to your office with your election authority.
For the full picture of running, from petitions to filing to the calendar, start with our guide to running for local office in Illinois.
Before week 1: what has to be done by early January
The 12 weeks assume the paperwork phase is behind you. Here is what that phase looks like on the April 6 track:
- Circulation began August 25, 2026.
- Filing runs Monday, November 16 to Monday, November 23, 2026, with the receipt for your Statement of Economic Interests due by the close of the last filing day.
- Objections are due December 1 or 2, depending on whether the filing office is open the Friday after Thanksgiving.
- Ballot position lottery must be held by December 2, 2026.
- Campaign Verify: if you plan to text, request it on or after November 15, 2026. Requests made before that date expire January 31, 2027, which is in week 3 of this plan. Requests made on or after November 15 last until January 31, 2029. You need a committee with an EIN and a filing published by your election authority; candidates with no committee are not eligible. The fee is $95 per two-year cycle.
- Campaign committee: if you raise or spend more than $5,000 in a 12-month period, you generally must file a Statement of Organization (Form D-1) with the State Board of Elections within 10 business days, and your own money counts toward that total (10 ILCS 5/9-3).
December is a good month to set up the tools you will lean on later: your walk lists, your supporter list, your texting account, and a simple calendar of who is doing what each week.
Weeks 1 and 2: January 11 to 24
Main job: finish your universe and get back on the doors.
- Pull together every supporter you met during petition season. Separate the people who gave a dated, written opt-in for texts from everyone else. Only the first group gets texts.
- Decide which households you will knock. For most local races this is likely voters in your district, with a focus on people who vote in local elections.
- Schedule door shifts for every weekend between now and Election Day. Winter weekends fill up fast.
- Draft your one-page message: who you are, why you are running, and two or three things you would work on.
- Send a welcome text to opted-in supporters if you have not already.
Week 3: January 25 to 31
Main job: confirm you are on the ballot.
- The ballot is certified on Thursday, January 28. Check that your name appears as you filed it.
- If you requested Campaign Verify before November 15, your verification expires January 31, 2027. Request again so your texting is not interrupted.
- Make your walk lists final for the weeks ahead and assign territories to volunteers.
Week 4: February 1 to 7
Main job: know your full field.
- The deadline for write-in candidates to file a notarized Declaration of Intent is Thursday, February 4, 2027 (10 ILCS 5/17-16.1). After that you know who can receive write-in votes in your race.
- Keep knocking. Every conversation now is a first or second contact before ballots open.
- Start collecting supporter commitments: yard signs, house meetings, people willing to knock on a weekend.
Weeks 5 and 6: February 8 to 21
Main job: persuasion doors and volunteer recruiting.
- Spend most of your door time on voters who have not decided. Record the result of every door so you never knock the same "not interested" house twice.
- Recruit volunteers for the early voting weeks, when you will want people on doors, phones and texts.
- Write your early voting texts now, before you are busy. Our 25 campaign text templates for local races are a starting point.
- Ask your election authority when vote by mail ballots go out in your county and how voters request one, so your messages say it correctly.
Week 7: February 22 to 28
Main job: early voting opens.
- Early voting starts Thursday, February 25 (or Friday, March 12 where a February primary ran). Check your county clerk's website for locations and hours.
- Text your opted-in supporters the day it opens. Keep it short and send them to the county clerk's site for locations.
- Shift door scripts from introduction to reminder: "Early voting is open. Do you have a plan to vote?"
For a week-by-week version of just this stretch, see our early voting plan for local candidates.
Weeks 8 and 9: March 1 to 14
Main job: turn supporters into voters.
- Keep a list of supporters who have told you they voted, and stop reminding them.
- Knock supporter doors you have not reached in weeks.
- In the 30 days before the election, campaign finance timelines get shorter: a committee crossing $5,000 must file its D-1 within 2 business days, and contributions of $1,000 or more must be reported within 2 business days. Check with the State Board of Elections if you are close to either line.
- Where a February primary ran, early voting opens March 12. Send your opening text that day.
Weeks 10 and 11: March 15 to 28
Main job: steady contact, no new projects.
- This is not the time to start a new mailer, website or event series. Put every hour into conversations with voters.
- Reply to every text reply within a day. Supporters ask simple questions: where to vote, whether you are on their ballot, how to get a yard sign.
- Confirm your Election Day volunteers by name and shift.
Week 12: March 29 to April 6
Main job: get out the vote.
- Send a final reminder to opted-in supporters over the last weekend and on Election Day morning.
- Put your strongest volunteers on supporter doors that have not confirmed voting.
- On April 6, check your election authority's polling hours and plan your shifts around them.
Our Election Day checklist for local candidates breaks the day itself into a printable list.
Step in the plan: set up texting so it is ready for February 25
Do this in December or early January, after your Campaign Verify request on or after November 15:
- Create your CampaignCNX+ account and buy your number. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month, and nothing sends until it is bought.
- Let CampaignCNX+ file your carrier registration. It files 10DLC and toll-free registration for you and guides you through Campaign Verify, so you are not stuck reading carrier forms in January.
- Load only opted-in supporters into a group. A petition signature is not consent to receive texts. A sheet counts only if it says so plainly and the date is recorded, so copy the opt-in date and where it came from into custom fields as you enter each supporter. Sends go to groups, so your supporter group is your send list.
- Schedule your sends. Write the early voting and Election Day texts in February and schedule them, with quiet-hours scheduling keeping them inside reasonable hours.
- Work the inbox as a team. Replies land in a two-way inbox, STOP replies are handled automatically, and you can add team members with roles so a volunteer can answer while you knock doors.
For volume, a typical local list fits pay as you go at $0.06 per SMS or Basic at $55 a month with 1,000 SMS. For Illinois campaigns there is also an offer through January 31, 2027: 1,000 free texts with a month of Pro, plus white-glove setup for $149 (normally $299). Details are on our Illinois political texting page.
If you are knocking doors in the same weeks, a canvassing app like Beacon handles routed walk lists and door results, and CoreCNX keeps one record per voter across doors and texts.
A note on pace
These weeks are a guide, not a law. A school board candidate running mostly on weekends will move slower than a mayoral campaign with a dozen volunteers. Keep the order the same: lists, doors, then turnout once early voting opens.
Get your texting ready before the busy weeks
Set up your account now, so when early voting opens you are sending reminders instead of filling out registration forms.