Political campaigns provide an opportunity for people to gain hands-on experience in promoting ideas and influence policymaking. They offer prospective staffers, especially college students and mid-level professionals, a fast track to a meaningful career in politics. However, it’s important to choose a campaign that fits your interests and broader career goals.
For example, if you are interested in working at the federal level on technology policy, it might make more sense to prioritize campaigns for candidates seeking to advance specific legislative initiatives and who share your partisan orientation. Campaign experience is also highly valuable for careers in lobbying, issue advocacy, and other politics-adjacent fields.
A successful campaign depends on a deep understanding of the voters and prospective donors the candidate is trying to reach. This includes estimating voter turnout by using past election results, then determining how many votes the candidate needs to win in order to meet their goal. Depending on the partisan split in the district, a campaign may prioritize voters by creating groups of undecideds, swing voters, Democratic voters who only vote during presidential elections, and other groups.
Campaigns for US House and Senate seats are often more organized than state legislative races. Both Democrats and Republicans have programs to organize the protection of incumbents and recruit challengers for open seats. As a result, these campaigns tend to have more staff and a greater level of professionalization than some state legislative races. In addition, campaigns for these seats decide party control of the relevant branch of government and set many high-profile policy debates.