Every two years (every election cycle) thousands of nationwide campaigns are organized to elect candidates, pass ballot initiatives, or promote specific policy positions. Campaigns vary in size and scope from small local operations to large federal operations involving hundreds of paid staffers. Most campaigns last between eight and ten months. A career in political campaign work can be highly rewarding and challenging, but it isn’t for everyone. It’s important to assess your own fit and your goals before taking on this type of work.
If you are considering a career in politics or government, gaining experience on a political campaign is often necessary to develop the skills and credentials required for more senior roles. Moreover, working on a campaign can help you understand how political support is built and maintained for particular policy ideas, which can be helpful if your ambition is to become an elected official or engage in more single-issue advocacy work in the future.
Generally, legislative and executive branch campaigns offer the most opportunities for career-building in a given election cycle. There are 535 seats in the US House of Representatives, 7,386 state legislative seats, and thousands of city and statewide executive offices up for election each cycle. Many of these races are contested and competitive, meaning that they decide party control of the relevant branch of government or influence over highly salient policy debates.
In addition, both Democratic and Republican committees have formal programs that organize their members and challengers to protect incumbent legislators and win new seats. These races are often viewed as high priorities by the rest of the party ecosystems and may attract more resources and professional staffers than non-competitive races in that chamber or state.