CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT & TRAINING RESOURCES
*Updated* Candidate Recruitment & Training Resources Information, Deadlines, & Opportunities!
Running for, or thinking about running for, City Council, School Board, District Attorney, State House, or State Senate? Not sure yet? Don’t know where to start? Have a friend who's considering making the leap? Want to be a campaign manager or volunteer for a campaign?
Here are *11* resources to help you, from the Democratic Party of Georgia, Rep GA, Georgia WIN List, Asian American Advocacy Fund, Her Term, Emerge America, National Democratic Training Committee PAC, Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC, Run for Something, Democracy for America, and Get Her Elected.
* Qualifying deadlines for the 2019 November municipal elections (odd years = nonpartisan) are typically the third week in August, but you can call your county clerk to confirm.
* October 2019 *residency* deadline: For state Senate and state House seats, you must live in the district in which you intend to run at least one year before the election. Municipal requirements may vary, but typically follow the state rules. Qualifying deadlines aren't until 2020.
* The Democratic Party of Georgia is building a statewide team to better support candidates. The Party is looking for community leaders ready to step up for elected office in city, county and judicial races in 2019, and state, statewide or Congressional seat in 2020 or beyond. If you’re interested in exploring opportunities, fill out this brief questionnaire: https://bit.ly/2UgFGiI.
* Rep GA, a new statewide leadership development hub, will have “Ready to Lead” trainings throughout the year: March 2, Gwinnett; March 16, Fulton; March 30, Cobb; April 13, Houston; April 27, Dougherty; May 11, Chatham; June 8, Clarke/Oconee; June 22, Henry; July 13, Muscogee; July 27, Cobb; August 10, Baldwin; August 24, Gwinnett; September 7, Lowndes; September 21, Richmond. To register or for more info: www.repga.org.
* Georgia WIN List (www.gawinlist.com) is a grassroots Political Action Committee (PAC) dedicated to changing the face of power in Georgia by recruiting, training, supporting, electing and re-electing Democratic women for statewide and legislative office who will be effective advocates for the issues most important to women and families, including the preservation of reproductive freedom. A newly developed one day WIN List boot camp "Find Your Inner WINner" premiers in *July,* and several sessions will be offered around the state during the late summer and early fall. Follow Georgia WIN List on Facebook or sign up to receive e-mails to be sure you get registered.
* The Asian American Advocacy Fund is hosting a Nonpartisan Candidate Training on *Aug. 17-18* in Atlanta. This year's training will include campaign basics (branding/communications, fundraising, compliance) plus how candidates can pursue racial, economic, immigrant, and gender justice and be better accountable to communities of color. Training is open to candidates, potential candidates, campaign staff, and young people who may run for office or work on a campaign one day. Need-based travel scholarships/stipends available for participants outside of metro Atlanta. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/2Y7qNNK.
* Her Term (www.herterm.org) is a Georgia-based initiative created to recruit women to run for public office at the local, state, and national levels. Working with local and state partners, community leaders and activists, we find qualified, progressive women already leading in their communities and recruit them to run for office through an in-depth exploration process. We then connect them with the best resources and provide the support they need to launch an effective campaign.
* Emerge America (https://emergeamerica.org/emergega) recruits, trains and provides a powerful network to Democratic women who want to run for office. Formally launching September 2019, Emerge Georgia will offer an in-depth, six-month, 70-hour training program to provide aspiring woman leaders with cutting-edge tools and training to run for elected office and a national support network.
* The National Democratic Training Committee PAC offers free trainings to any Democrat or Progressive. Their online courses (www.traindemocrats.org/courses) teach candidates how to write and execute a campaign plan focused on winning, and include samples and templates that candidates can use in their own campaigns. Topics include fundraising, digital communications, and field tactics like canvassing and phone banking. *One course is just to help you decide if running for office is right for you (and your family) and what office you might want to run for.*
* The Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.BoldProgressives.org) offers a series of free one-hour special online trainings for candidates on how to get out the vote, build your campaign team, recruit volunteers, and fight for progressive policies (https://bit.ly/2WBJMj0).
* Run for Something helps recruit and support young diverse progressives to run for down-ballot races in order to build a bench for the future. They aim to lower the barriers to entry for these candidates by helping them with seed money, organization building, and access to trainings needed to be successful. Their candidate program is structured to get as many committed people as possible in the door and provide them access to resources, money, and experts who can help them. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2SdXQMv.
* Democracy for America is a member-driven, people-powered political action committee. Their mission is building and empowering a broad coalition of grassroots organizers to elect the New American Majority - people of color and white progressives - to fight for inclusive populism at all levels of office in all 50 states. “DFA Night Schools” (https://bit.ly/2SXAyPp) are free, interactive trainings that allow anyone to learn the skills to win and create change.
* Get Her Elected is an initiative where people from all over the world offer their skills pro bono to progressive women candidates running for office at all levels of U.S. government. Skill sets from current volunteers include everything from writing, editing, and graphic design to web design, data analysis, and fundraising strategy. By having people with these backgrounds fill in these gaps for no charge, GHE levels the playing field and allows progressive women candidates to focus on bigger issues within their campaigns. See FAQs for volunteers and candidates at www.getherelected.com/about.
(Please tell the Georgia groups that 159 Georgia Together sent you their way – we connect many volunteers with many groups and love to track the results.)