Campaign Strategy Articles & Guides for Candidates Running for Office - Field Organizing, Fundraising, GOTV & More
Running for office? Start here. Political campaign strategy, case studies, and articles from nearly 20 years on the trail.
Buy the Book
Podcast Episodes
Case Studies
Real examples of how strategy changes when data is better, and how to make progress when it isn’t.
What Becomes Possible With Better Data
A practical case study showing how richer data changes targeting, assumptions, and the strategic options available.
Working With the Data You Have
A case study on building usable voter universes and campaign decisions when the voter file is limited or messy.
Guides
In-depth tutorials designed to be used as operating manuals.
Political Campaign Checklist for First-Time Candidates
Every step of a campaign in the order you need to do them, from your first conversation before you announce through Election Day.
Campaign Plan Outline for Political Candidates
The seven elements every campaign plan needs, built on project management principles. Covers goals, scope, stakeholders, budget, and a risk register.
Field Organizing: A Complete Guide
A complete walkthrough of how real field programs are built: volunteer recruitment, doors, phones, training, retention, and GOTV.
Fundraising: How to Build a Winning Finance Program
Finance plans, donor prospecting, building a Finance Committee, and making the ask. A complete guide to raising money for your campaign.
Voter File Analysis: How to Score and Target Your Universe
Party affinity scoring, turnout propensity, and building a target universe of swing voters and GOTV targets. A practical guide with Excel formulas included.
Volunteer Sign-up Sheets for Political Campaigns
Free templates I’ve used for years. Designed to collect clean data, track commitments, and convert interest into action.
Want to Win an Election? Here’s the Blueprint!
A clean overview of what most campaigns skip: planning, targeting, budget discipline, and execution.
Blogs
FAQ
Start with the book to get the strategic mindset, and think about your race from the 30,000ft level. Then move to the guides for practical planning, targeting, and execution.
It’s strategic. It translates Sun Tzu’s Art of War into a way to structure campaign decisions about timing, targeting, risk, and resources.
Most advice is either tactical or institutional. This focuses on decision quality, turning messy data into usable strategy and helping campaigns make clearer tradeoffs. The goal is understanding, so you can make better decisions with less stress.
Continuously. New material is added as it’s built. Last updated June 24, 2026.