Recruiting Candidates for the 2027 Local Races

An organization recruits candidates for local office in seven steps: list the seats on your next ballot, describe what each seat involves, list people who already serve their community, ask them in person with an honest picture of the work, hold an information session, help the people who say yes through filing, and keep a list of people who may run later. The same steps work for a county Democratic or Republican organization recruiting for partisan offices and for a nonpartisan civic group encouraging neighbors to run for school board or city council.

Start soon. In several states, filing for the 2027 local races opens within weeks of the Tuesday, November 3, 2026 election. A few examples from our state guides:

• Wisconsin: nomination papers for the spring election may be circulated from Tuesday, December 1, 2026, and are due by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2027. See our Wisconsin guide.
• Missouri: candidate filing for the Tuesday, April 6, 2027 municipal election opens Tuesday, December 15, 2026 and closes Tuesday, January 5, 2027. See our Missouri guide.
• Indiana: Democratic and Republican candidates for city office file declarations from Wednesday, January 6 to noon on Friday, February 5, 2027. See our Indiana guide.

Other states hold their 2027 local elections in the fall, with filing later in the year. Your election authority, or the clerk for each office, can confirm the dates where you are. Texting comes up in Steps 5 and 6, and our political texting guide covers its rules in full.

A note for charities

If your group is a charity organized under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code, be careful. The IRS says these organizations are "absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office." The same IRS guidance says some voter education activities, such as public forums, are not prohibited when they are conducted in a nonpartisan manner. Talk to an attorney before a charity takes on any of the steps in this guide.

Step 1: List the seats on your 2027 ballot

Ask your election authority, and the clerk or secretary of each local body, which seats are up in 2027 in your area. Depending on your state, the list may include city or village council, mayor, school board, township offices, park and library boards, and county offices. For each seat, write down:

• The term that ends, and whether the current officeholder plans to run again, if that is known.
• Whether the seat was contested last time. Your election authority publishes past results. If only one candidate filed, voters had no choice for that seat.
• Whether the race is partisan or nonpartisan. This depends on your state and the office.
• The filing window and what it takes to file, such as a petition with a set number of signatures or a declaration of candidacy.

Open seats, seats that went uncontested last time and seats where the filing window opens soonest usually deserve attention first.

Step 2: Write a one-page description of each seat

People decide whether to run based on what the job involves. For each seat, cover:

• What the body decides, such as budgets, zoning or school policy.
• How often it meets, and how much preparation a meeting takes, as a current or former member describes it.
• The term and the qualifications, such as age and residency, as stated by the filing office.
• The filing window and the paperwork, from the official candidate guide or the clerk.

Keep each description to one page, written plainly.

Step 3: Build a list of people who already serve

Start with people who already do the kind of work the office requires:

• Volunteers from this year's campaigns who were reliable.
• Parent group leaders and school volunteers, especially for school board seats.
• Members of appointed boards and commissions, such as planning, zoning, library or park advisory boards.
• Neighborhood and homeowners association officers.
• Small business owners, coaches, service club members and leaders in faith communities of any tradition.
• Residents who speak up constructively at public meetings.

Look beyond your usual circle as well, including neighborhoods where your organization has few contacts.

Keep a simple prospect sheet with the person's name, the seat that might suit them, who knows them best, the date you asked, their answer and a date to follow up. This is a recruiting list, not a texting list. Text a prospect only if they have agreed to receive texts from your organization.

Step 4: Ask in person

Ask face to face. The person who asks should be someone the prospect knows and respects, ideally joined by a current or former officeholder.

A short example of the ask:

"You've been at almost every school board meeting this year, and people listen when you speak. Three seats are on the April ballot, and one member is not running again. Would you consider running? I can tell you what the job involves, what filing takes and how we would help."

Be honest about three things: the time a campaign and the office take, the paperwork and deadlines, and the public attention that comes with running. Say clearly what your organization will do to help and what it cannot do. Then give the person time to decide, and agree on a date to talk again.

Some people who decline now will consider running later. Ask whether you may check back before the next election, and note the answer on your prospect sheet.

Step 5: Hold an information session

An information session lets people who are curious learn more without committing to anything. Example format: an evening of 60 to 90 minutes at a library meeting room or community center.

1. What the offices do. Invite current or former officeholders from two or three local bodies. A nonpartisan group can invite people with different views, so the session stays focused on the job.
2. Filing basics. Walk through the official candidate guide or the clerk's instructions, and hand out your one-page seat descriptions.
3. What a first local campaign involves, from getting on the ballot to meeting voters at their doors.
4. Questions, followed by a sign-up sheet for anyone who wants a follow-up conversation. Add a separate line for people who agree to receive texts from your organization, with a place for the date.

Invite your opted-in supporters by text, and announce the session at your meetings. A nonpartisan group can open it to everyone in the community.

Step 6: Help the people who say yes

Once a recruit says yes, the organization's job is practical help. Our guide on how to run for local office with no experience is written for first-time candidates, with Illinois examples, and it is a good one to hand to each recruit. Your organization can add:

• A filing calendar with the dates from the election authority, and a reminder well before each deadline.
• A second reader for the forms. If a petition is required, many campaigns aim for 1.5 to 2 times the minimum number of signatures, as common practice rather than law, because invalid signatures can be struck.
• A mentor, ideally someone who has run for the same body or a similar one.
• Volunteers, by introducing the candidate to people on your list who want to help, with their agreement.

The candidate's own outreach. To text voters, the candidate's campaign needs its own committee, an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and Campaign Verify, the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates covers cost and timing. Your supporters agreed to texts from your organization, not from the candidate, so the candidate builds their own opted-in list.

Endorsements. A party organization may endorse candidates under its own bylaws. A nonpartisan group usually supports the process instead, offering the same session and materials to everyone who asks.

Step 7: Keep a list for 2028 and beyond

Keep a short list of people who said "not this time," and check in with them after the 2027 races. When a seat opens between elections, some local bodies fill it by appointment, so it helps to know who is ready. Volunteering on a 2027 campaign is also a practical way for a prospect to learn what running involves.

Using CampaignCNX+ for recruiting outreach

CampaignCNX+ can carry the outreach for Steps 4 to 6 to supporters who agreed to receive your texts.

1. Invite supporters to the information session. Schedule the invitation and a reminder, using merge fields such as first name. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.
2. Let people raise their hand. Ask interested people to reply with a word such as RUN, never YES, which is a default opt-in word in CampaignCNX+. Replies arrive in the shared inbox (an add-on at $12.49 a month, included on Enterprise), where you and your team members answer each person (staffers see the inbox once you allow it). With the keywords add-on ($20 a month), anyone who texts RUN to your number can receive an automatic reply with the session details.
3. Tag the people who are interested. Use a tag such as "considering 2027" and a custom field for the office they mentioned.
4. Follow up with a drip sequence, a series of texts sent on a schedule. Example: a thank-you with the seat description on the first day, an offer to meet a current officeholder a few days later, and a reminder of the filing dates the following week.
5. Leave opt-outs to the system. STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically.

Texts you can adapt, each under 160 characters as written:

[Organization]: Thinking about running for council, school board or another local office? Info night [day], [time], [place]. Reply RUN for details.

Thanks for your interest, [First name]. Here is what the [Office] job involves, with the filing dates: [link]. Questions? Reply here.

[First name], [Name] served on the [Board] and would be glad to talk with you about it. Reply TALK and we'll set up a time.

To keep your wider list involved, see our guide to keeping supporters engaged between elections. Our two-way texting page explains how replies work.

Start with the people already on your list

Your best prospects are often already among your supporters and volunteers. Start a trial of CampaignCNX+ and schedule your information session invitation to the people who agreed to hear from you. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month.