How to run for local office in Virginia: the 2027 guide

The short answer

Virginia's general election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Every seat in the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates is on the ballot. Counties elect their sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue, along with most boards of supervisors and elected school boards. Party primaries, where a party chooses to hold them, are on Tuesday, June 15, 2027. Almost every candidate reaches the ballot the same basic way: by filing a Declaration of Candidacy with a petition signed by qualified voters of the district, collected on or after Friday, January 1, 2027.

The deadline depends on your route. A candidate seeking a party's nomination in a primary files with the party chair between noon on Monday, March 15 and 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027. An independent candidate, which includes every school board candidate, files with the general registrar by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027. A candidate nominated by a method the party runs itself, such as a convention, files no petition, and the party chair certifies the nomination.

This guide walks through each step in order. The rules come from the Code of Virginia (Title 24.2 and related sections) and from the candidate bulletins and forms of the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT). ELECT had not posted its 2027 bulletins when we checked in November 2026, so most 2027 filing dates here are computed from state law and marked "based on state law." This is not legal advice. Confirm anything specific to your office with your general registrar or ELECT. If you have never run for anything before, our post on how to run for local office with no experience covers the groundwork that applies in any state.

What is on Virginia's 2027 ballot.

ELECT's schedule of general elections lists these offices for November 2, 2027:

• General Assembly. All 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia, for four-year terms, and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates, for two-year terms.
• County constitutional officers. Commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue, for four-year terms (Va. Code § 24.2-217). A county with an optional form of government may not elect all four.
• County boards. Boards of supervisors in 94 counties, the Arlington County Board, and elected school boards in 93 counties. A county that staggers its terms elects only some seats in a given year (§ 24.2-219).
• Soil and water conservation district directors, for four-year terms.
• Cities. The clerk of the circuit court, for an eight-year term, plus council in 6 cities and school board in 5 cities.
• Towns. Council in 20 towns, and a mayor where the charter provides.

City sheriffs, commonwealth's attorneys, treasurers and commissioners of the revenue are elected in 2025 and 2029, not 2027, unless the city shares the office with a county (§ 24.2-217). If you are not sure whether your seat is up, ask your general registrar.

One more feature of Virginia ballots matters for local candidates. Party names are printed next to candidates' names only for federal, statewide and General Assembly offices (§ 24.2-613). For a county or city office, voters see the names without a party label.

Key 2027 dates at a glance.

The June 15 and November 2 dates appear on ELECT's 2026 to 2030 schedule. Our Virginia 2027 election calendar lists every date in order, including early voting and the registration deadlines.

Step 1

Check that you qualify.

The basic rule for every office. A candidate must have been a resident of Virginia for the one year before the election and be qualified to vote for the office (§ 24.2-500; Constitution of Virginia, Article II, Section 5). Being qualified to vote for an office means being a registered voter of the district that elects it. For a seat elected by district, such as a supervisor seat elected from a county election district, you must live in that district.

Extra rules for some offices.

• Senate of Virginia and House of Delegates: at least 21 years old at the time of the election, a resident of the district, and qualified to vote for General Assembly members (Constitution, Article IV, Section 4).
• Commonwealth's attorney: a member of the Virginia bar (§ 15.2-1600).
• School board: an employee of a school board may not serve on the board that employs them (§ 22.1-57.3).

One office at a time. No one may appear on the ballot for more than one office at the same election (§ 24.2-504).

A sworn statement backs this up. Every candidate files a Certificate of Candidate Qualification, a statement under oath that they are qualified to vote for and hold the office (§ 24.2-501). Check your registration and address early, because the certificate is sworn.

Step 2

Find your route onto the ballot.

Virginia has three routes for a candidate whose name will be printed on the ballot, plus a write-in option.

A party primary

Each party decides how it will choose its nominee for each office. The party's local committee for the district, county, city or town makes that choice (§ 24.2-509). Some rules limit it. A party with one incumbent in a General Assembly district uses the method that incumbent designates. For other offices, a party whose last nominee for the office was chosen in a primary and won must use a primary again unless all of its incumbents agree to another method. The party tells ELECT whether it adopted a primary between 125 and 105 days before the primary, which is Wednesday, February 10 to Tuesday, March 2, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-516).

A primary candidate files a Declaration of Candidacy, a petition and a filing fee receipt with the party chair. The fee is 2 percent of one year's minimum salary for the office, paid to the treasurer or director of finance of the county or city where you live (§§ 24.2-523, 24.2-524). Any qualified voter may vote in a primary, but only in one party's primary (§ 24.2-530). If only one candidate files, that candidate becomes the nominee and no primary is held for the office (§ 24.2-526).

The Declaration of Candidacy includes a statement that if you lose the primary, your name will not be printed on the November ballot for that office (§ 24.2-520).

A nomination run by the party

A party may instead nominate by a method it runs itself, such as a convention, under its own rules. These nominations may take place only within the 47 days before the primary date, so between Thursday, April 29 and 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-510). The candidate files no declaration or petition. The candidate files the Certificate of Candidate Qualification and, where required, the Statement of Economic Interests, and the party chair certifies the nominee to ELECT and the general registrar (§ 24.2-511). Ask your local party chair how the party will run its process and what it requires of candidates.

An independent candidacy

Any candidate who is not a party nominee files a Declaration of Candidacy and a petition with the general registrar of the county or city where they live, by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law; §§ 24.2-505, 24.2-507). This route covers more candidates than the name suggests:

• Every school board candidate. School board candidates "shall be nominated only by petition" under the independent candidate statute (§ 22.1-57.3).
• City council candidates in most cities. ELECT notes that most cities hold nonpartisan council elections, by charter or by practice, and that in those cities all council candidates run as independents.
• Anyone who prefers not to seek a party nomination.

Write-in candidates

ELECT says write-in candidates for offices other than President do not file ballot access documents. Their names are not printed on the ballot, and Virginia primary ballots allow no write-ins (§ 24.2-529).

Step 3

Collect your petition signatures.

Every primary candidate and every independent candidate files a Petition of Qualified Voters (form ELECT-506/521). The law sets these minimums (§§ 24.2-506, 24.2-521):

Because some signers turn out not to be qualified voters of the district, ELECT recommends collecting at least one and a half times the number required. For a 125-signature office, that is at least 188.

A few rules shape the work:

• Dates. Signatures must be dated on or after January 1, 2027.
• Signers. Each signer must be a registered voter who can vote for the office, and writes their printed name, signature, full residence address and the date. The last four digits of a Social Security number are optional.
• Circulators. The person who collects the signatures, the circulator, must witness every signature. A circulator may not be a minor or a felon whose voting rights have not been restored, and ELECT adds that the circulator must be a legal resident of the United States.
• The notary. The circulator signs an affidavit on the back of each page in front of a notary. A page without a proper notarization is invalid.
• The paper. Each page is one sheet printed front and back, on ELECT's form, with the candidate section filled in before anyone signs. Signatures must be originals.

For a full walkthrough of the form, the circulator's affidavit and the checks before filing, see the Virginia candidate petition guide on Beacon, our canvassing app's site.

Step 4

File your papers.

What you file depends on your route. All candidates file the first item, and most file the second.

1. Certificate of Candidate Qualification. General Assembly candidates file it with ELECT (form ELECT-501(6)). All other candidates file it with the general registrar of the county or city where they live (form ELECT-501(4)). It may be filed any time after January 1, and ELECT says it must be filed before a candidate can buy a registered voter list.
2. Statement of Economic Interests. Required of General Assembly and constitutional office candidates, and of governing body and school board candidates in a county, city or town of more than 3,500 people. Since July 1, 2026, it is filed electronically with the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (§ 24.2-502).
3. Declaration of Candidacy (ELECT-505/520). Primary and independent candidates only. Sign it in front of a notary, or in front of two witnesses who are registered voters of the district.
4. Petition pages. Primary and independent candidates only. The first page goes in with the declaration, and later pages may follow until the deadline.
5. Primary filing fee receipt. Primary candidates only, filed with the declaration.

Deadlines. Primary candidates file items 1 to 5 by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027 (based on state law). Independent and party-run candidates file their items by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-503). ELECT says declarations and petition pages must be received by the deadline, and a postmark does not count. The two statements in items 1 and 2 count as filed on time if they are mailed by registered or certified mail within the deadline.

After you file. For a primary, the party chair reviews the petitions and certifies to ELECT that the minimum was met (§ 24.2-527). An independent candidate whose petition is found short may appeal within five calendar days of the notice, to the local electoral board for a county, city or town office, or to the State Board of Elections for other offices (§ 24.2-506). Court challenges to a candidate's eligibility must be filed at least 65 days before a primary or 90 days before a general election (§ 24.2-546), which is Sunday, April 11 and Wednesday, August 4, 2027 (based on state law). Keep a copy of everything you file. Check with the Department of Elections for any other filings that apply to your campaign.

Step 5

Plan the campaign around your election date.

Primary candidates have two campaigns. The first runs from January 1 to April 1, when circulating your petition is the main work. The second runs from April to June 15, when voters decide the primary. Early in-person voting begins about 45 days before the election (§ 24.2-701.1), so voting in the primary begins around the start of May.

Independent and school board candidates may circulate from January 1 to June 15, then campaign to November 2. Early in-person voting for November begins about 45 days before the election, in mid-September, and ends at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 30. The last day to register is Friday, October 22 (based on state law), and ELECT says voters may still register in person after the deadline and vote a provisional ballot.

Local races are often won through conversations at the door. A simple approach is to divide your district into areas, visit each area once before early voting opens, and return to households that were undecided. Your petition drive is the first round of that work, because each circulator is already knocking on doors inside the district. Our campaign plan to the June 15, 2027 Virginia primary turns these dates into a week-by-week schedule.

Step 6

Text the supporters who asked to hear from you.

Text messages help you reach supporters at the moments that matter: the start of early voting, the registration deadline and election day. Set texting up in this order with CampaignCNX+.

1. Settle your committee and get an EIN. Campaign Verify is the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It is open to 527 committees (527 is the federal tax status of a political committee) that have an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Candidates with no committee, and sole proprietors, are not eligible.
2. Check that your filing is viewable online. Check with the Department of Elections for the filings that apply to your campaign, and confirm that yours can be found online before you request Campaign Verify. If you cannot find it, contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay. Campaign Verify decides eligibility, and we cannot promise it.
3. Request at the right time. Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle, and the PIN goes only to the contact details on your filing. A request made before Sunday, November 15, 2026 expires on Sunday, January 31, 2027. A request made on or after November 15, 2026 lasts until Wednesday, January 31, 2029, which covers the June 15 primary and the November 2 election.
4. Let CampaignCNX+ file your registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, either 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number, a one-time $75 for your first local line) or toll-free. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days. You buy the $95 Campaign Verify token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with your registration.
5. Add only people who gave written permission. Text supporters who gave prior express written consent, for example on a sign-up sheet that plainly says they agree to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. A petition signature is not that permission. Never text everyone who signed your petition or everyone on a voter list.
6. Write short messages and schedule them. Keep each text under 160 characters, name the campaign, and end the first message with "Reply STOP to opt out." STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month, and the free texts can be used once your number is bought and approved. After that, pay-as-you-go texting costs $0.06 per SMS segment, and the Basic plan is $55 a month for 1,000 texts. For the full setup, read texting voters in a Virginia local race. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains verification in more depth, and our political texting page covers campaign texting in general.

Guides for each part of the race.

• Virginia 2027 election calendar for candidates
• How to run for board of supervisors in Virginia
• How to run for school board in Virginia
• How to run for sheriff or another constitutional office in Virginia
• How to run for the House of Delegates or the Senate of Virginia
• A campaign plan to the June 15, 2027 Virginia primary
• Texting voters in a Virginia local race: consent and setup