A political campaign is a group effort to promote and elect a candidate to public office. A political campaign typically involves a large amount of money and many people. It is a common career entry point for young college graduates and mid-level professionals seeking to gain a broad range of professional experience in a highly intensive, fast-paced environment. It can also provide a strong foothold into politics and policy work, particularly for those interested in running for office themselves in the future.
The majority of political campaign opportunities occur in contested races; offices where the incumbent has little to no chance of defeat and/or elections in which competitive campaigns have significant implications for party control and salient policy debates. As such, most staffers will initially begin their careers with a contested race and gradually “graduate” to a non-contested campaign as they build skills, experience and connections.
Competitive campaigns attract the attention of the major political parties and their partisan ecosystems. Often, these committees release lists of prioritized races during each election cycle that signal to donors and other members of the ecosystem which contests are worth supporting with their resources. As a result, competitive political campaigns tend to offer the most opportunities for young staffers and can be a strong route into politics-adjacent or official-side positions in government in the future. The relative lack of job security makes a career in political campaigning difficult for some, however. Most campaigns last less than a year and if your candidate loses you will be out of work shortly thereafter. Consequently, many staffers take on temporary or part-time jobs during the off-years to bridge the gap between elections.