If you are running for a city, village, town, county or school board seat in Wisconsin this spring, you have about six months until Election Day on Tuesday, April 6, 2027. Five dates shape the schedule: nomination papers may be circulated from Tuesday, December 1, 2026; papers, your Declaration of Candidacy and your campaign registration are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday, January 5, 2027; challenges are due Friday, January 8; a spring primary, where one is triggered, is Tuesday, February 16; and the election is Tuesday, April 6.
The plan below gives each stretch of weeks one main job, so the work happens in the right order: paperwork and preparation in the fall, signatures in December, filing in January, and voter contact through the spring. Fixed dates come from Wisconsin statutes and the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) 2027 ballot access checklists. Absentee voting dates and write-in deadlines are computed from state law rather than published by WEC, and are marked "computed." Confirm those, and anything specific to your office, with your clerk.
For the rules behind each step, see our guide to running for local office in Wisconsin.
Weeks of October 5 to November 1: decide and get the facts
Main job: confirm your office, your path to the ballot and your filing officer.
- Ask your clerk which seats are on the April 6, 2027 ballot and who the filing officer is: the municipal clerk for city, village and town offices, the county clerk for county supervisor, and the school district clerk for school board.
- Ask how you get on the ballot. By default, towns and villages nominate by caucus unless they have adopted nomination papers. Some school districts require only a Declaration of Candidacy, with no nomination papers.
- If you use nomination papers, learn your signature range. Village and town offices need 20 to 100. Our sibling post on the Wisconsin spring 2027 election calendar lists every date in one place.
- Write a one-paragraph answer to "Why are you running?" You will use it at every door.
Weeks of November 2 to November 29: register and prepare
Main job: register your campaign and set up the tools you will need.
- File your campaign registration statement (CF-1) with your filing officer before you raise or spend money. The threshold is $0. If you do not expect to pass $2,500 in contributions, spending and obligations combined this year, you can claim an exemption from filing reports, but you still register and keep records.
- Get an EIN (your committee's federal tax ID number from the IRS) if you plan to text voters, since Campaign Verify requires one.
- Print nomination papers on the WEC form EL-169, with your name, address, the office and the election date filled in correctly in the header. A missing election date voids the whole page.
- Recruit circulators, the people who collect signatures. Any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who would not be disqualified from voting if they lived in Wisconsin may circulate, and so may you.
- Plan Campaign Verify. Political texting requires Campaign Verify, a check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign. A request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts to January 31, 2029. A request made before then expires January 31, 2027. Campaign Verify needs a filing published online, and Wisconsin local registrations are filed on paper with the clerk, so ask your clerk whether yours is viewable online first.
Weeks of November 30 to December 27: circulate
Main job: collect signatures, and build your supporter list as you go.
- Circulation begins Tuesday, December 1, 2026. Signatures dated earlier are not counted.
- Each signer must live in the district, be an eligible voter and be 18 or older, and must write their signature, printed name, municipality, street address and date.
- Review each page as it comes back. The circulator must complete and date the certification at the bottom; signatures dated after that date do not count.
- Collect comfortably above your minimum, but do not exceed your maximum.
- Carry a separate sign-up sheet asking whether people would like campaign texts. A signature on a nomination paper is not permission to text.
- Friday, December 25, 2026: incumbents who are not running must file a Notification of Noncandidacy by 5 p.m. The date falls on Christmas Day, so watch your clerk's website for any public notice.
Our walkthrough on filling out and circulating Wisconsin nomination papers covers each line of the form.
Week of December 28 to January 3: assemble your filing
Main job: get every document ready to file.
- Number your nomination paper pages in order, starting from 1.
- Sign your Declaration of Candidacy (EL-162, or EL-162sd for school board) before a notary or other officer who can administer oaths.
- Confirm your CF-1 is on file, or have it ready.
- If your town or village nominates by caucus, the caucus window opens Saturday, January 2.
Week of January 4 to 10: file
Main job: file on time, then watch for challenges.
- Tuesday, January 5, 5 p.m.: nomination papers, EL-162 and CF-1 are due to your filing officer. Papers must be originals, in the clerk's hands by the deadline. A faxed or emailed EL-162 or CF-1 must be followed by the original, postmarked by January 5.
- Friday, January 8, 5 p.m.: challenges to nomination papers are due. If an incumbent neither filed nor gave notice, this is also the extended filing deadline for other candidates for that seat.
- If you are challenged, your response is due by 5 p.m. on the third calendar day after the challenge is filed.
Weeks of January 11 to 31: caucus season and first doors
Main job: finish the paperwork phase and start knocking on doors.
- Caucus towns and villages meet by Thursday, January 21, the date state law says should be preferred. Caucus nominees file EL-162 and CF-1 within five days of notification.
- Within three days after the filing deadline, some cities and villages decide whether to hold a primary. Ask your clerk whether your race will have one.
- Build your walk list of voters in your district and begin door knocking on weekends.
- Send a welcome text to supporters who opted in.
Weeks of February 1 to 21: the primary, where there is one
Main job, primary races: turn out your supporters by February 16. Others: keep knocking.
- In-person absentee voting for the primary: Tuesday, February 2 to Sunday, February 14 (computed). Hours are set by each municipality.
- Mail absentee requests for the primary: received by 5 p.m. Thursday, February 11 (computed).
- Write-in registration for the primary: noon Friday, February 12 (computed).
- Tuesday, February 16: spring primary. Only the winners appear on the April ballot.
- Non-exempt committees in a primary file a preprimary report 14 to 8 days before the primary.
Weeks of February 22 to March 21: persuasion
Main job: talk with as many voters as you can, and recruit help for the final two weeks.
- Spend most of your door time on voters who have not decided.
- Ask supporters for yard signs, house meetings and weekend volunteer shifts.
- Schedule your final two weeks of volunteers now.
- Non-exempt committees prepare the preelection report, due 14 to 8 days before the election.
Weeks of March 22 to April 4: early voting
Main job: help supporters vote early.
- In-person absentee voting: Tuesday, March 23 to Sunday, April 4, 2027 (computed). Many clerks offer fewer days, so look up your municipality's hours.
- Mail absentee requests: received by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 1 (computed). Indefinitely confined voters: 5 p.m. Friday, April 2 (computed).
- Write-in registration: noon Friday, April 2 (computed).
- Text opted-in supporters the early voting hours for your municipality, and remind them that photo ID is required to vote absentee in person.
Week of April 5: Election Day
Main job: get every supporter to the polls on Tuesday, April 6, 2027.
- Send one reminder the day before and one on Election Day morning.
- Keep volunteers on the doors of supporters who have not yet voted.
- Thank everyone who helped, whatever the result.
Running the texting side with CampaignCNX+
Texts reach supporters at the moments that matter in this plan: the caucus, the start of early voting and Election Day. Set up CampaignCNX+ in November, so you are ready by January.
- Open your account in November. Every new account includes 100 free SMS. Your number is $5 a month, and nothing sends until you buy it.
- Let us file your carrier registration. Campaign texting from a local-style number requires a carrier registration called 10DLC. CampaignCNX+ files it for you and guides you through Campaign Verify, which needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee), an EIN and a filing published online.
- Group your opted-in supporters by how you met them, such as "December doors" or "volunteers."
- Schedule your key messages ahead of time: the caucus reminder, the first day of early voting, and the Election Day reminder. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., so schedule within those hours.
- Answer replies in the two-way inbox. Opt-outs are handled automatically.
For wording ideas, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for the details of setup, our political texting guide.
Start now
Open your account in the fall, finish registration before circulation begins, and your texting will be ready when your supporters need to hear from you.