A political campaign is an organized effort to elect candidates for public office or pass ballot initiatives such as constitutional amendments, legislative referenda, and local ordinances. Campaign staffers and volunteers seek to identify, persuade, organize, and mobilize supporters to deliver the candidate’s message to voters and ultimately win elections.
Working on a political campaign can be very fulfilling, but it is also not for everyone. Before deciding to work on a campaign, it is important to consider your broader career goals and personal needs. For example, you should decide which policy positions you are interested in advancing and with which party (if any) you want to affiliate; the decision to become partisan will have significant repercussions throughout your career.
The primary way to get a job on a campaign is through connections; however, these are not always easy to cultivate. Try to contact law school alumni who have worked on campaigns or who are otherwise affiliated with undergraduate partisan groups; they should be able to put you in touch with people who can help you secure a job.
Depending on the position, you may start on a paid basis or as an unpaid volunteer. Many campaigns will expect you to begin with field or advance work, such as canvassing or managing a team of volunteer callers, before moving up to more substantive roles like fundraising or policy development.
Legislative branch campaigns offer the most opportunities during election cycles; there are 535 seats in Congress, 7,386 state legislative seats nationwide, and thousands of city or county legislative seats. These types of campaigns are typically structured and managed by partisan campaign committees that provide oversight for incumbents and challengers.