Table of Contents
Candidate Resources
LP National
There is a wealth of information on the LP National website. All worth looking at and thinking about. For example - lifetime members? Those are people who are committed. Find the lifetime members in your state and see about giving them a personal call. Explain your campaign, ask for advice, and see if you can garner their support.
Some examples:
LP Campaign Training
These are videos from Cara Schulz (LP National staff - Candidate Recruitment specialist). Cara is amazing, she's an elected Libertarian, and she knows what she's talking about when she tells you how to plan and execute a campaign. Browse through all the videos. If you have a question, chances are at some point, Cara has answered it.
Here are some recommended videos. You can find all these and more on Cara's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CaraSchulz/videos
Other Resources
Online Training
These are non-LP resources, but all have good stuff there. Plus they often provide links to additional materials that you can use to dive deeper into particular subjects.
Libertarian Party Resources
LP Action
The place to start, IMHO, if you’re going to be running a campaign as a Libertarian. You’ll find a lot of information here, from people who have run - and learned - from campaigns in the past.
Checklists
Summary articles and lists of things you might want to consider or cover as part of your campaign.
A lot of times you’ll find yourself thinking “I need to look at…” just as you get distracted by something else. These lists make for a great resource to help remind you of topics or areas that you meant to get to, but didn’t, or which you completely overlooked.
- Callhub's Political Campaign Checklist
- Candidate Boot Camp's Political Campaign Checklist
Tools
These are all links, tools, or other resources that I’ve found useful at one point or another.
- Does your state DOT provide traffic volume maps? (ex, for PA: Pennsylvania Traffic Volume Map. These are fantastic for determining sign and advertising placement.
- You should look for other state information as well - zip code boundary maps, municipal statistics, and a statistic atlas for your state can be invaluable when looking at voter demographics.
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Reading
Books
There's a good selection of reading at Libertarianism.org, but if you think you only have time for one book on theory - read “The Three Langauges of Politics”. I cannot recommend Kling's book highly enough. It is a must for understanding solid libertarian messaging.
The following are all books that have been recommended to me at one point or another:
Articles
The “Life After Trump” series is worth reading for perspective. Like it or not, The Donald has changed the political landscape in America significantly.
From the Northwest Michigan Libertarian, a series on “How and Why to Get Local Libertarians Elected!”
"A Better Way to Look at Most Every Political Issue"
“How to Run a Local Political Campaign” is a surprisingly detailed guide on how to run a campaign from Callhub.
Fundraising
TODO: this is an entire topic all on its own
Nuts and Bolts
IT Setup
TODO: website hosting & setup, email, using Stripe, Google vs. whatever, yadda yadda
Social Media
TODO: PLEASE get your social media accounts set up before your opponent grabs them
Voter Guides
- Ballotpedia - Candidate Connection survey
- League of Women Voters - Vote411 Project
- iSideWith - Candidate Login
- VoteSmart - Candidate submissions
Merch and Lit
TODO: where to go for what you need
Example Websites
Election Office Links by State
The below table links to state-level election offices. Election web sites (and laws) are constantly updated, so please check to make sure you are referencing up-to-date information, even if you have run before.