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The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections
The Campaign Manager is a clear and concise, must-have handbook that is based on the author's three terms as mayor of Ashland, Oregon, and her numerous successes in managing campaigns. Supportive of both candidates and issues, this handbook gives political novices and veterans alike a comprehensive and detailed plan for organizing, funding, and publicizing local political campaigns. Finding the right message and targeting the right voters with it are clearly explained by means of specific examples, anecdotes, and illustrations. Included is in-depth information on assembling campaign teams, precinct analysis, canvassing, and dealing with the media. The Campaign Manager is an encouraging, lucid presentation of how to win elections at the local level. Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition now covers campaign technology methods in every chapter, and includes expanded material on direct mail, effective yet inexpensive television spots, and how to get the most reach for your campaign dollar. Also included are updates on working vote-by-mail elections for better results, organizing your database for campaign workers and donors, and fighting negative campaigns.
416 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 27, 2007
Half way through and a great overview of the techniques and strategies needed to win local political campaigns. While some of the information is dated, the core of the information is universal and has opened my eyes to specific strategies in running a campaign. A must read for anyone thinking of being a candidate or running a local campaign
August 11, 2026
Book #37 of 2026. "The Campaign Manager" by Catherine Shaw. 3/5 rating. 361 p.
This book talks all about the ins and outs of elections and how to run a successful campaign!
I was happy to finish this on our primary day here in St. Albans. (If you haven't voted yet, get out there and if you're in Franklin-8, vote for my candidate, Zach Scheffler!!) With this being the first time being a campaign manager, I figured I'd get the book on it (per usual).
"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -Teddy Roosevelt
"It doesn't make sense to talk about successful corporations in a society whose schools, hospitals, churches, symphonies, or libraries are deteriorating or closing." - Clifton Garvin, Jr.
I thought this was a useful overview of everything and gave me a good basis to work from. The biggest detractors from it, were that this edition is from 2004, so technology has changed drastically since then (it was explaining how to add columns in a spreadsheet....). And then, obviously with the topic, and this more or less being a textbook, it just wasn't exactly a page-turner.
If you're looking to run a campaign, though, this is an invaluable place to start!
Some of the top takeaways and quotes:
- Be prepared
- Think ahead
- Be clear about tasks, expectations, and time commitments
- "Treat your volunteers as you would highly paid employees."
- "According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in the 2002 midterm elections, 'just under 95 percent of U.S. House races and 76 percent of Senate races were won by the candidate who spent the most money'"
- "You may never know what results from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." - Gandhi
- "While people love to say government should be run like a business, that's not exactly true; streets make no money, sewer and water services make no money. Government is not about making a profit, it's about service to the community - it's business with a heart."
- "It doesn't matter how swell you think you are, if you spend time, money, or energy in areas where you will lose, that means you are not spending time, money, and energy in areas where you need to win. Work smart: Write off the sinners, trust the saints, and persuade the saveables."
- "Only a life in the service of others is worth living." - Albert Einstein
- "True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." - Martin Luther King, Jr
- "Expanding a library, adding curriculum options for a school, or acquiring parkland are not about how cheap the projects are but rather about what the projects will do for your community, society, and future generations. There is no price for that. Stay on message: You are not selling 50 cents a pound, you are selling apples, and if voters want apples, they'll buy apples. Your job is to keep them focused on what they're buying, not on how much it will cost."
- "It costs no more to build a beautiful building than an ugly one."
This book talks all about the ins and outs of elections and how to run a successful campaign!
I was happy to finish this on our primary day here in St. Albans. (If you haven't voted yet, get out there and if you're in Franklin-8, vote for my candidate, Zach Scheffler!!) With this being the first time being a campaign manager, I figured I'd get the book on it (per usual).
"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -Teddy Roosevelt
"It doesn't make sense to talk about successful corporations in a society whose schools, hospitals, churches, symphonies, or libraries are deteriorating or closing." - Clifton Garvin, Jr.
I thought this was a useful overview of everything and gave me a good basis to work from. The biggest detractors from it, were that this edition is from 2004, so technology has changed drastically since then (it was explaining how to add columns in a spreadsheet....). And then, obviously with the topic, and this more or less being a textbook, it just wasn't exactly a page-turner.
If you're looking to run a campaign, though, this is an invaluable place to start!
Some of the top takeaways and quotes:
- Be prepared
- Think ahead
- Be clear about tasks, expectations, and time commitments
- "Treat your volunteers as you would highly paid employees."
- "According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in the 2002 midterm elections, 'just under 95 percent of U.S. House races and 76 percent of Senate races were won by the candidate who spent the most money'"
- "You may never know what results from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." - Gandhi
- "While people love to say government should be run like a business, that's not exactly true; streets make no money, sewer and water services make no money. Government is not about making a profit, it's about service to the community - it's business with a heart."
- "It doesn't matter how swell you think you are, if you spend time, money, or energy in areas where you will lose, that means you are not spending time, money, and energy in areas where you need to win. Work smart: Write off the sinners, trust the saints, and persuade the saveables."
- "Only a life in the service of others is worth living." - Albert Einstein
- "True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." - Martin Luther King, Jr
- "Expanding a library, adding curriculum options for a school, or acquiring parkland are not about how cheap the projects are but rather about what the projects will do for your community, society, and future generations. There is no price for that. Stay on message: You are not selling 50 cents a pound, you are selling apples, and if voters want apples, they'll buy apples. Your job is to keep them focused on what they're buying, not on how much it will cost."
- "It costs no more to build a beautiful building than an ugly one."
May 30, 2018
I would not normally read a book like this but my wife, Sarah, is running for state treasurer and I wanted a better idea of what goes into a typical campaign. This book gives a very detailed account of how to coordinate and manage a political campaign. It covers a wide range of topics from identifying voters, marketing, fundraising, and coordinating a message. The only areas I found lacking were fund raising and identifying volunteers. It mostly assumes you are part of a major party and have access to some existing resources or at least name recognition to start finding donors and volunteers.
September 1, 2018
This is an excellent introduction to the local or municipal political campaign with a small budget.
December 8, 2020
As a first-time campaign manager with no previous campaign experience, this book offered me all the resources I needed to be grounded in what I was doing. Easy read and incredibly insightful.
January 12, 2025
Very dated but there’s still lots of valuable and useful information!
March 18, 2015
Before I launch into the book review I wanted to say that June 22nd was the fourth anniversary of this blog. It is a beyond strange thing that I have kept it up for this long. I am honoured by those who continue to visit and those who discover it and take something away from it. Thank you for reading.
There is no easy answer to how to run/win an election. Most people who are interested in the process are either supported by sophisticated networks of volunteers and activists, or blunder through the process. Political parties provide convenient banners to rally behind, but in local elections in most municipalities there are no parties and candidates must build campaigns on their own. Even with parties most candidates stand largely on their own as the parliamentary system decentralizes politics during elections.
I purchased The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections by Catherine Shaw for three reasons: one day I might be running a campaign; I want to better understand how to run campaigns; one day I want to run myself.
There are tragically few resources on how to run an election. Most of the resources I have discovered are entirely inappropriate because they are entrenched in the American political system, or they are tragically out of date. Political campaigners are less likely to write books about their methods than become political consultants, I suppose.
Shaw focuses on small-scale elections where non-partisan or where party has limited influence. This creates a good parallel for the elections that are fought in Canada. In many contexts even though parties are not specifically involved voters can easily identify them or they have connections/endorsements from others. After reading the book I believe that this is a valuable resource for Canadians as well as Americans.
Shaw condenses many of the commonly accepted best practices in her book on Get Out the Vote (GOTV), voter identification, media relations, and provides dozens of practical samples for materials any campaign would need to produce such as call sheets, volunteer database or fund-raising forms.
As the title suggests this is a guide for campaign mangers and not candidates. Significant attention is given to identifying strong candidates and dealing with them. Elections/campaigns are deeply personal things and so it can be very challenging for candidates to separate their individual identities from the campaign they run and not view it as a personal referendum. Effective managers helps candidates win, but also help keep things in perspective.
Chapters in the book include information on precinct/poll analysis, building campaign teams, campaign brochures, volunteer organization, fundraising, lawn signs, targeting voters, dealing with media, candidates, issue-based campaigns, GOTV, and laying out the campaign plan. Shaw draws on her experience as a veteran politician in Oregon and her work on many campaigns for others.
The book can be quite dense and should be viewed as a guidebook or manual. It is not a particularly pleasurable read though Shaw sprinkles in anecdotes to reinforce her points. Still, the book is a resource and once read through will likely be used as a reference only.
During the last Ontario election and approaching the municipal elections I have recommended this book to friends and associates seeking office. It is a valuable starting point to help a prospective candidate to know what he/she needs to run for office. Even veterans of political campaigns may be missing the most obvious things when it comes to these matters. As a resource of combined materials The Campaign Manager is exceptional. While I believe there is ample room for a Canadian edition it is a great starting point for anyone looking to run.
You can follow me on Twitter @SLee_OT or at my blog at http://theorangetory.blogspot.ca/
There is no easy answer to how to run/win an election. Most people who are interested in the process are either supported by sophisticated networks of volunteers and activists, or blunder through the process. Political parties provide convenient banners to rally behind, but in local elections in most municipalities there are no parties and candidates must build campaigns on their own. Even with parties most candidates stand largely on their own as the parliamentary system decentralizes politics during elections.
I purchased The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections by Catherine Shaw for three reasons: one day I might be running a campaign; I want to better understand how to run campaigns; one day I want to run myself.
There are tragically few resources on how to run an election. Most of the resources I have discovered are entirely inappropriate because they are entrenched in the American political system, or they are tragically out of date. Political campaigners are less likely to write books about their methods than become political consultants, I suppose.
Shaw focuses on small-scale elections where non-partisan or where party has limited influence. This creates a good parallel for the elections that are fought in Canada. In many contexts even though parties are not specifically involved voters can easily identify them or they have connections/endorsements from others. After reading the book I believe that this is a valuable resource for Canadians as well as Americans.
Shaw condenses many of the commonly accepted best practices in her book on Get Out the Vote (GOTV), voter identification, media relations, and provides dozens of practical samples for materials any campaign would need to produce such as call sheets, volunteer database or fund-raising forms.
As the title suggests this is a guide for campaign mangers and not candidates. Significant attention is given to identifying strong candidates and dealing with them. Elections/campaigns are deeply personal things and so it can be very challenging for candidates to separate their individual identities from the campaign they run and not view it as a personal referendum. Effective managers helps candidates win, but also help keep things in perspective.
Chapters in the book include information on precinct/poll analysis, building campaign teams, campaign brochures, volunteer organization, fundraising, lawn signs, targeting voters, dealing with media, candidates, issue-based campaigns, GOTV, and laying out the campaign plan. Shaw draws on her experience as a veteran politician in Oregon and her work on many campaigns for others.
The book can be quite dense and should be viewed as a guidebook or manual. It is not a particularly pleasurable read though Shaw sprinkles in anecdotes to reinforce her points. Still, the book is a resource and once read through will likely be used as a reference only.
During the last Ontario election and approaching the municipal elections I have recommended this book to friends and associates seeking office. It is a valuable starting point to help a prospective candidate to know what he/she needs to run for office. Even veterans of political campaigns may be missing the most obvious things when it comes to these matters. As a resource of combined materials The Campaign Manager is exceptional. While I believe there is ample room for a Canadian edition it is a great starting point for anyone looking to run.
You can follow me on Twitter @SLee_OT or at my blog at http://theorangetory.blogspot.ca/
February 20, 2017
n.b. I am 99% certain that the author of this book really is Catherine Shaw, a former mayor of Ashland, Oregon, and not "a pseudonym used by Leila Schneps."
Otherwise, this is well worth the time of those who are most likely to be considering it. Shaw has a good gift for anecdotes and character sketches, which help in absorbing what is nearly a one-semester course condensed into one volume.
Otherwise, this is well worth the time of those who are most likely to be considering it. Shaw has a good gift for anecdotes and character sketches, which help in absorbing what is nearly a one-semester course condensed into one volume.
November 27, 2011
Though it would have been more helpful to read this book in chunks, I sat down and powered through the whole thing. I actually benefitted from that because there are key messages repeated in multiple chapters, and it helped reframe my way of thinking.
The book was a good guide, made more interesting for its anecdotes. I have some experience working on campaigns, and it was useful to compare my own experiences with the practices the author described.
Only qualms were that I found the quotations to be a bit distracting and out of place. The author also referenced the Prop 8 campaign in California-- but misreported the reason that campaign lost, probably finding references in the popular press but not in the research that followed.
Otherwise, a helpful book that I expect to keep me centred on the big things, and give answers to some of the smaller things.
The book was a good guide, made more interesting for its anecdotes. I have some experience working on campaigns, and it was useful to compare my own experiences with the practices the author described.
Only qualms were that I found the quotations to be a bit distracting and out of place. The author also referenced the Prop 8 campaign in California-- but misreported the reason that campaign lost, probably finding references in the popular press but not in the research that followed.
Otherwise, a helpful book that I expect to keep me centred on the big things, and give answers to some of the smaller things.
Read
August 6, 2021324.70973 S5343 2018
January 3, 2011
I bought this book to help me run a local school board campaign. It helped me organize my thoughts and see the overall picture of a campaign. I dis not sit down and read it, but read it in spurts. I bought 2 other books on managing a campaign and relied on this one the most as it made the most sense.
February 7, 2017
This was a helpful insight into effective campaigning.
I'm not planning on running for office or being in charge of a campaign myself, but now that I know more about the process, it will definitely help me figure out the best way to apply my volunteer time and donations to elections in the future.
I'm not planning on running for office or being in charge of a campaign myself, but now that I know more about the process, it will definitely help me figure out the best way to apply my volunteer time and donations to elections in the future.
November 28, 2019
Talk About Thorough
Okay folks, I read a lot of campaigning books...like, a LOT. This one, hands down, is the most thorough, with actual templates and examples for everything. You may find books that go deeper on one particular facet of campaigning, but none will give you the depth and breadth to run an entire campaign like this one. Well done!
Okay folks, I read a lot of campaigning books...like, a LOT. This one, hands down, is the most thorough, with actual templates and examples for everything. You may find books that go deeper on one particular facet of campaigning, but none will give you the depth and breadth to run an entire campaign like this one. Well done!
June 26, 2020
An in-depth, experienced look at running local campaigns. Contains information about polling, media opportunities, lawn signs, building a campaign team, and more. Catherine Shaw gives personal examples that were also eye-opening.
September 19, 2007
buku wajib para jurkam; dilengkapi panduan praktis manajemen dan praktek kampanye
December 1, 2011
Really useful book on running a local election. Outcome of said election is as of yet unknown.
We came up about 200 votes short of victory. I shan't fault Shaw for that though!
We came up about 200 votes short of victory. I shan't fault Shaw for that though!
April 8, 2012
This one held a lot of good information for me right now as I undertake this election. I passed it on to my campaign manager to read. He has the hard job!
Read
May 22, 2015324.70973 S5343 2014
October 27, 2020
Wonderfully wonky, exactly what I needed.
December 3, 2020
No frills. No fuss. No idealism. Just how to do a campaign in a practical manner. Great.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews