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Running For Office

An effective strategy of what you can do?

If you have the savy and some background - run for office yourself! If this is an idea you've toyed with, look below for some resources to further feed your thought process!

RESOURCES

Emily's List

A national recruitment and training campaign that helps Democratic pro-choice women around the country run for office—and WIN.

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Wikipedia:

"EMILYs List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985.[3] The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast". Malcolm commented that "it makes the dough rise".[3] The saying refers to a convention of political fundraising: receiving many donations early in a race helps attract subsequent donors. EMILYs List bundles contributions to the campaigns of Democratic women in favor of abortion rights running in targeted races.[4][5]"

Nation Builder

NationBuilder is a mission-driven software company founded on the belief that solving humanity’s unprecedented challenges will occur only with the participation and leadership of millions of citizens around the world. NationBuilder creates the technological infrastructure to make that participation and leadership possible at scale—to, in the words of founder Jim Gilliam, democratize democracy—by enabling anyone to easily mobilize their community and lead them to action. Since 2011, NationBuilder has served 100,000+ customers in over 110 countries, from individuals stepping into leadership for the first time, to the heads of political parties, international networks, Top 100 charities, and Fortune 500 companies.

Run For Something

Since launching in January 2017, Run for Something has recruited nearly 100,000 people across all 50 states to run for state or local office. 
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We provide a safety net for new and exciting progressive leaders — at all stages of their journey — helping them run efficient, strategic, grassroots, driven campaigns while feeling supported throughout the process.

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If you don’t take our word for it, hear how we help from Run for Something candidates, partners, mentors, volunteers, and alumni.

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"Throw everything you know about politics out the window. You’re qualified to run for local office – we’re here to help."

LGBTQ+ Victory Instititute

About LGBTQ+ Victory Institute

Democracies work best when we all have a seat at the table. We invest in the next generation of LGBTQ+ public leaders, supporting a strong pipeline for members of our community pursuing public service. 

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She Should Run

Our Mission

She Should Run is a national, nonpartisan organization activating women to be effective political participants and igniting women’s leadership in communities across the country.

Blue Dot Consulting

Can we create a better world together? Absolutely.

Are you on fire for justice and believe in the dignity of every human being?  Are you convinced that with common sense leaders and better choices, we can meet every challenge we face?  

If you are a candidate, a caucus chair, a labor union leader, or heading up a mission-based organization, we may be the strategic partner you are looking for.

NDTC

The Mission

We empower Democratic candidates, campaign staffers, and local leaders with free, accessible tools, expert training, and online resources to secure victories anytime, anywhere.
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Who We Are

We are the largest Democratic campaign training organization in the nation. We’ve trained over 112,000 Democrats since 2016. In 2024 alone, we had 2700+ Democratic and nonpartisan candidates on the ballot. We are building a movement, not a moment.

Progressive Turnout Project

Holds all kinds of different training events, search your state, or your specific type of training.

NPR

If you've ever thought about running for office — your town council or school board, the state legislature, even Congress, this guide is for you. We'll tell you where to start and how to navigate everything from campaign fundraising to building a "kitchen cabinet."

This story comes from Life Kit, NPR's podcast to help make life better — covering everything from exercise to raising kids to making friends. For more, sign up for the Life Kit newsletter.

In countries like the US and UK, where anti-trans rhetoric seems so prevalent, you might ask: why try and fight in elections, and work within the system to change it? Danica Roem is doing exactly that 🧵👇

1/ One response is that if we accept defeat, it becomes an inevitability. The US's first openly gay politician Harvey Milk lost a number of elections before winning - and his perseverance changed the landscape.

2/ Danica Roem was the first out transgender person to serve in a state legislature, and now she’s working to assure that there will be many more at all levels of government.

3/ Danica Roem has launched a Candidate and Campaign Training program to give more Trans+ people the skills to run for office, and play their part in fighting back against anti-queer laws.

4/ "To me, what’s really significant is saying, ‘Hey, look, I did this when I was told this was impossible’” ~Danica Roem

Trans and wanting to run for office? Roem, a state senator in Virginia, will be one of the people training candidates at a first-of-its-kind event in September 2025 in Los Angeles.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, a sibling organization of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, will hold a Candidate and Campaign Training program for all aspiring LGBTQ+ candidates September 4-7 in Los Angeles, and immediately following, September 7-9, will be a specialized session for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people who want to run for office. That session is a collaboration between Victory Institute and Advocates for Trans Equality. (Victory Institute provides trainings and leadership development for aspirants to public office; Victory Fund endorses out candidates.)

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