Getting into local politics is easy if you know how to do it. In this blog post, political consultant Jay Townsend lays out the exact steps you need to take to break into local politics, build the right relationships, and position yourself to win when you’re ready to run for office.
We’re going to talk about how to get into local politics — and not only how to do that, but how to thrive in local politics. I’m going to walk you through the steps you have to take and how you can get involved and jumpstart a political career if you’re interested in running for office at a local level. I have helped hundreds of candidates do exactly that, so I know of what I speak.
Here’s what we’re going to cover: the steps you can take to get involved in local politics, starting with the organizations you join and the expertise you need when you circulate in community activities. After you join, we’ll talk about how you excel at what you do, how you get noticed, and then how you can use what you’ve gained to jump start a political career.
The first way to get involved is what I call the principle of go, do, join. Go to meetings, go visit organizations, get involved in activities in your community. Perhaps you get involved with your local political party. Perhaps you get involved by helping a candidate that you like. Perhaps you get involved by joining a civic or community organization — the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club. Get involved in local activities in your community, and you will meet people who can someday be helpful to you: people who are influential in your community, who may take notice of the fact that you’re there and that you’re doing good work.
Let me share a story of how one person did it in a community where I lived as a teenager. He volunteered to lead the annual fundraising drive for an organization called United Way. There were lots of organizations that United Way wanted to help, so he turned the fundraising campaign into something he publicized throughout the fundraising drive. The very first photo op he did was standing on the courthouse square, where he erected a big thermometer showing how far they were from their goal. His picture was in the paper, and he was surrounded by community leaders.
Once a week, he would do another event to highlight the groups that United Way was helping. One week, it was mothers living in poverty who were about to have children. Another week, it was a local orphanage providing education and decent food to abandoned children.
Another time, they highlighted an elderly care facility serving seniors who had no health insurance and were living in abject poverty. Every week, his picture was in the paper — associating him with people who needed help and what he was doing to elevate their quality of life.
He made such a reputation for himself that when the fundraising drive succeeded, everybody fondly remembered the campaign. Two years later, he was elected state senator from that area — in a landslide. He got his start by leading a civic and community organization that the whole community remembered. He capitalized on the influential people he met, the donors who contributed, and the group leaders who so appreciated his help.
This illustrates one critical thing about your involvement in community and civic activities: you’re going to have the chance to meet influential people, and they are going to be watching how you do the work you’ve volunteered to do. So excel at all you do. If you say you’re going to show up, show up. If you make a commitment to somebody, keep that commitment. If you’re asked to do a particular job, do that job to the best of your ability.
I’ll paraphrase something I heard recently: don’t do anything half-heartedly. The reason is that people will be watching you. They’re going to notice your leadership skills, your character, your integrity. And once you decide you want to pursue a career in public office, you’ll find that the people you’ve crossed paths with can be very helpful to you — and they will fondly remember you if you’ve excelled at what you’ve done.
The third step to getting involved in local politics is to make it your job to be well-informed. Be acutely aware of what is going on in the world around you. You’re going to run into influential people as you go and do and join, and if you’re always up to date on what’s happening in your community, your state, your country, and around the world, you’re always going to be interesting to talk to.
In fact, you’ll be so interesting to talk to that people will think — because you’re well-informed — that you’re really on top of things, that you have leadership skills, that you care enough to pay attention. Not only will that impress other people, but it’s also a great education. As you stay up with the news, you’re going to see in newspapers and broadcasts the kinds of problems that need solutions — problems you may want to talk about in a political campaign someday.
The fourth point about getting involved in local politics is the art of making friends and keeping friends. You want to make a friend — be a friend. You want to keep a friend — stay in touch. Why does this matter? Throughout your life, you are going to encounter exceptional people: extraordinarily bright people, people of great moral character, people who are extraordinarily generous or kind. Those are the people you want to keep as friends.
Make it a habit as you meet people — especially the ones you think could someday really be helpful to you — to make a note to stay in touch with them. Find an excuse at least once every six months or once a year to drop them a note, send them something you think they might be interested in, or just pick up the phone and chat. It’s the art of maintaining valuable friendships throughout your life. Because when you get into politics, you never know when you could use the help of someone you met twenty years before.
My final suggestion, if you want to get involved in local politics, is this: learn to speak. Learn to give a speech. Learn to stand in front of an audience and say a few words without a prepared speech, without notes. Here’s why: history is filled with iconic figures who were so great at expressing their views — so skilled at public speaking — that they quickly rose up the political ladder and achieved positions of great power almost solely because of their ability to craft words.
Some of the famous ones you may know: Lincoln, Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama — all had a very quick path to one of the most powerful positions in the world because of their ability to speak. And then there are thousands of candidates you may never have heard of who rise to the top very quickly in their own communities each year because of their ability to put words together — to touch, to move, to inspire. Simply through their ability to craft words and say them well. That is a secret weapon. If you develop the ability to stand up in front of a group and talk, it will take you to places unknown.
Q: I’m a complete unknown in my community. Where do I even start?
A: Start with one organization. Pick something you genuinely care about — a civic group, a local political party, a charity — and show up consistently. The goal at first is simply to be present and to meet people. Influence and reputation build from there, not the other way around.
Q: How long does it take to build the kind of reputation that makes running for office realistic?
A: It varies, but the story in this blog post is instructive: two years of visible, excellent community work was enough to produce a landslide state senate victory. For local races — city council, school board, water district — the timeline can be even shorter. The key factor is the quality of your work, not the quantity of years.
Q: Do I need to join a political party to run for local office?
A: Not always — many local races are nonpartisan. But getting involved with your local party is one of the fastest ways to meet influential people and get connected to networks that can help you raise money, recruit volunteers, and build name recognition. Even if your ultimate race is nonpartisan, party involvement is rarely wasted.
Q: What if I’m terrified of public speaking?
A: That’s completely normal — and completely fixable. Organizations like Toastmasters exist for exactly this reason. The only way to get better at speaking is to speak, so look for low-stakes opportunities: introduce someone at a club meeting, give a brief thank-you at a community event, volunteer to emcee a local fundraiser.
Q: How do I stay in touch with influential people without seeming like I’m using them?
A: The trick is to offer value before you ever need anything. Share an article you think they’d find interesting. Congratulate them on something you noticed. Ask for their opinion on a local issue. Relationships that are built on genuine mutual interest hold up. The ones built purely on self-interest — where you only call when you need something — collapse exactly when you need them most.
Jay Townsend has spent more than 40 years advising candidates at every level of American politics. For more campaign strategy resources, visit JayTownsend.com or subscribe to Jay’s YouTube channel for new videos every week.
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