The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections

by Catherine M. Shaw

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.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Reference, Political Science

416 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[Justin Epker · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Ryan Work · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Todd Plesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the local or municipal political campaign with a small budget.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dated but there’s still lots of valuable and useful information!

[Steven Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

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/

[Matt Kuhns · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Mills College Library]

324.70973 S5343 2018

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Will Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bagio Prajitno · Rating 5 out of 5]

buku wajib para jurkam; dilengkapi panduan praktis manajemen dan praktek kampanye

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Lee Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Mills College Library]

324.70973 S5343 2014

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully wonky, exactly what I needed.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

No frills. No fuss. No idealism. Just how to do a campaign in a practical manner. Great.