How to run a successful campaign for chief and council

I have had the privilege of working with clients in Northern Ontario who are looking to run for chief and council positions. Across Algoma, these activists are preparing to challenge established candidates and offering new ideas. My hope is that by helping on various campaigns, I can help make elections more competitive and help my clients bring their ideas and energy to their community.  

Having worked in both Election Consulting and Election Law, I have taken an interest in reserve elections with an eye to advising candidates on running successful campaigns. As with any election, my advice to clients running for chief and council positions starts with the fundamentals of campaigning.

How to run a successful campaign

The most succinct advice I have ever received on election campaigning was by a seasoned consultant: “Identify your friends and get them out to the polls.” This seemingly simple advice is at the heart of electoral politics. 

Identify your friends

To win a campaign, you need supporters. These supporters are your volunteers, your donors and most importantly, your voters. To identify your friends, you first need to build a campaign identity. What issues matter in this election? What is your stance on these issues? What do you personally have to offer the community? What makes you different from the other candidates?

Once you have a message and a political identity you need to promote yourself in community events, online and door to door. Identify community events where you can make an appearance. Choose events where you can connect to different community leaders who may be able to influence potential supporters. Hosting your own events can also help to bring out supporters. Make sure to take photos of your events to use in your promotional materials. Online, a campaign website with an active newsletter helps keep potential voters informed as to the progress of your campaign. Make sure that the website includes calls to action including volunteer signup, donation links and an opt-in reminder system for election day. Social media also helps spread your message. Door to door campaigning involves canvassing with literature to promote the campaign. Make sure canvassers solicit potential supporters to provide contact information so they can be encouraged to participate and be reminded to vote.

Get your friends to the polls

Support does not matter unless it ultimately gets voters to actually vote. To that end, make sure you are communicating with supporters so that they know when the election is and how to vote. In the leadup to election day, be sure to communicate with the supporters you identified as to the date of the election and how to vote. Make sure that supporters have requested mail-in ballots or have a plan to vote on election day. Do not let anyone say they forgot to vote. Many successful campaigns include volunteers driving supporters to the polls to ensure every supporter has the chance to vote.

Conclusion

Every election is a unique battle between candidates and local dynamics vary substantially. However, victory ultimately goes to whoever has the most supporters at the polls on election day. To maximize your chances of winning, you need to identify your friends and get them out to the polls. A professionally run campaign is one that is visible, has an identity, identifies potential supporters and gets out the vote. Ultimately, a professionally run campaign will make it that much more likely that you are elected to a chief and council position.

If you are contemplating running for a reserve council or chief position, contact us at info@law365.ca or 647 494 9599.