A political campaign is an organized effort to promote the ideas of a particular candidate in order to influence public policy and elect that person to office. Political campaigns are often highly motivated by the belief that a specific candidate will better the lives of a local or national community. Working on a political campaign can be challenging and stressful but also exciting and personally fulfilling. Many prospective political campaign workers seek this type of job because it provides a meaningful and quick entry into politics-related work and connections that can be beneficial later in their careers, particularly in law.
While most people think of presidential campaigns when they imagine a political campaign, they are actually very common at all levels of government. There are 535 seats in Congress, hundreds of state executive branch positions (governors, state attorney generals, mayors), and thousands of city or county legislative positions.
Most campaigns will hire paid staff to handle project and budget management, fundraising, volunteer organizing, and voter engagement programs. Typically, a campaign manager or general consultant, finance director, and call time manager are the first positions hired on most campaigns.
There is very little space on a political campaign for substantive policy work. Most votes are based on general impressions of candidates’ stances on issues, which are largely shaped by partisan affiliation, paid advertising, and viral moments during political debates.
Generally, campaign workers will start in the field or advance staff and move to policy or communications jobs over the course of their time on the campaign. The relative lack of job security means that most people will find themselves working on one campaign per election cycle, often with very little time off in between.