1
Confirm the seat and the calendar
Before anything else, write down four dates. Everything in your campaign plan works backward from them.
Qualifying week
The only window when you can officially get on the ballot. In 2026 it ran June 8 to 12 for state, county and district offices, and April 20 to 24 for federal and judicial races. Municipal windows are set by each city charter and can open months before a March election.
Petition deadline
If you qualify by petition, signatures are due weeks before qualifying. In 2026 that was May 11 for state and county offices.
Vote-by-mail and early voting
A big share of Florida votes are cast before Election Day. Your real election starts when mail ballots go out, not on the first Tuesday in November.
Election Day
Primary in August, general in November in even years. Most South Florida cities vote in March or November. Check your city clerk.
Check eligibility: live in the district (or be ready to by the time required for that office), be registered to vote, and read the specific requirements for your office in the official candidate handbook from the Florida Division of Elections or your county supervisor of elections.
2
File your paperwork before you raise or spend a dollar
- Appoint a campaign treasurer and designate a campaign depository. File this with the office that qualifies your race (Division of Elections for state legislative and multi-county seats, your county supervisor of elections for county and most municipal seats). You cannot collect petition signatures, raise or spend money until it is filed.
- Open a dedicated campaign bank account. Every contribution in, every expense out. Never mix personal money.
- File your statement of candidate and read the handbook. Florida has a candidate and campaign treasurer handbook for every cycle. Read the reporting calendar twice.
- Running for Congress? Register with the FEC once you raise or spend more than $5,000.
- Set up compliance from the start: a spreadsheet or tool that records every donor's name, address, occupation and amount. Late or sloppy reports become opposition research.
3
Qualify: pay the fee or gather petitions
Option A: Qualifying fee
For partisan offices the fee is 6% of the office's annual salary: a 3% filing fee, a 1% election assessment and a 2% party assessment. Candidates without a party skip the party assessment. In 2026 a Florida House seat cost $1,781.82. The check comes from your campaign account.
Option B: Petitions
Collect signatures from 1% of the registered voters in your district (counted as of the last general election). A typical Florida House seat needs roughly 1,200 to 1,500 valid signatures. Verification costs 10 cents per petition, paid up front, unless you file an undue burden oath.
How to run a petition drive that also builds your campaign
- Use the official state petition form, printed with your name, office, party and district exactly as filed.
- Only voters registered in your district count. Newly registered voters not yet in the file do not. Copies and faxes are invalid.
- Collect at least 25 to 40% more than you need. Signatures get rejected for wrong addresses, unregistered signers and mismatched districts.
- Every signer is a supporter. Ask for an email and cell number on a separate sign-in sheet (never on the petition itself) and add them to your list that night.
- Turn in batches early so you know your valid rate before the deadline.
Petitions are slower than writing a check, but a candidate who has personally met 2,000 voters before qualifying week has already started the field campaign.
4
Build your list from day one
Your email and SMS list is the most valuable asset your campaign owns. It raises money, recruits volunteers and turns out voters, and it costs nothing to send to.
Website signup
Email first, then name, ZIP and cell. Keep it to one screen. Put it above the fold on every page.
Every event
Clipboard or QR code at every meet-and-greet, petition stop and door. Enter the list within 24 hours.
Your phone
Export your contacts. Your first 100 donors and volunteers are people who already know you.
- Collect explicit permission for texts on the signup form ("Yes, text me campaign updates").
- Tag every contact with its source (petition, event, door, web) so you can segment later.
- Use one central database. The Democratic voter file and its tools are available through the party; ask your county Democratic party how to get access.
5
Raise the money
Start with a budget, not a goal. Price out the mail, digital, printing, staff and qualifying costs you need, then raise against that number.
Florida contribution limits
$1,000 per election for legislative, multi-county, county and smaller races. $3,000 per election for statewide races. The primary and the general count as separate elections, so a donor can give twice when you have a primary.
The fundraising ladder
- Your own commitment (donors ask what you put in)
- Your 100-person "call list": family, friends, colleagues
- Hosts who each bring 10 to 20 guests
- Small-dollar online asks to your growing list
- Endorsing groups and their members
- Call time is the job. Block hours on the calendar every weekday. Make the ask for a specific amount, then stop talking.
- Early money is worth more. It buys name recognition, signals viability to endorsers and scares off rivals.
- Set up an online donation page (most Democratic campaigns use ActBlue) and put the link in every email, text and social bio.
- Thank every donor within 48 hours. Repeat donors are your cheapest money.
6
Nurture your email and SMS list
Email
- Welcome series: three emails in the first week. Who you are, why you are running, one easy action.
- Steady cadence: at least weekly, more in the final 60 days.
- Give before you ask: share stories, wins, photos and local news. Not every email should be a donation ask.
- One clear call to action per email. Short subject lines. Mobile first.
- Segment: donors, volunteers, voters in the district, out-of-district supporters.
SMS
- Register your texting. Campaigns sending peer-to-peer texts generally must register under the carrier 10DLC system. Your texting vendor walks you through it. Unregistered traffic gets blocked or fined.
- Identify yourself in every first message and include opt-out language like "Reply STOP to opt out."
- Text for urgency: event reminders, deadlines, voting dates. Keep it human and short.
- Honor opt-outs immediately. Talk to your vendor and counsel about consent rules before you buy or upload any list.
7
Map your brand identity
Most voters will spend a few seconds with your name. Your brand is what sticks. Before you print anything, fill in this map:
Who you areThree facts a neighbor would repeat: job, family, community roots.
Why you are runningThe moment you decided. One true story, told the same way every time.
Why nowWhat is broken today that you will fix. Rent, insurance, flooding, schools.
The contrastWhat your opponent did, or did not do, that voters can feel.
One-line promiseTen words or fewer. It goes on the yard sign, the mailer and the last line of every speech.
Look and voiceTwo colors, one typeface family, real photos in the district, a consistent tone. Same on the sign, site and socials.
South Florida tip: plan for Spanish and Haitian Creole from the start. Translate your core message, not just your flyer.
8
Message like a winner
Rule one: say the election date. Constantly.
Every email, text, door, sign, post, mailer and speech should tell voters when and how to vote: the vote-by-mail request deadline, early voting dates, and Election Day. Voters do not track election calendars, especially in off-cycle municipal races where turnout can fall below 10 percent. Repeat it until you are sick of it, then repeat it again.
The research backs this up. In a large field experiment, a phone script that helped voters make a concrete plan (when, where and how they would vote) raised turnout by 4.1 points among people reached, and by 9.1 points in single-voter households. A standard reminder call alone had no significant effect. Do not just remind. Help them plan.
- Lead with what voters feel. Democrats who won in 2026 hammered affordability: gas, groceries, rent and insurance. Make issues concrete and local.
- Message discipline. One core message, three supporting points, repeated everywhere. Your campaign is boring to you long before it is familiar to voters.
- Values first, policy second. Tell people why you care before you explain the plan.
- Use trusted messengers. Neighbors, local pastors, teachers, small business owners. A friend's ask beats your ad.
- Persuasion is hard, turnout is not. A study of 49 field experiments found the average persuasive effect of campaign contact in general elections was about zero. Contact long before Election Day can move people, but the effect fades. Do your persuasion early, then spend the final weeks turning out your supporters.
- Test, then commit. Try two subject lines or two door scripts, keep the winner.
9
Advertise: physical and digital
Physical
- Yard signs build name recognition, not persuasion. Put them at busy intersections and on supporters' lawns, where allowed.
- Door hangers and lit for canvassers. Every piece carries your name, promise, and the election date.
- Mail reaches older and high-propensity voters. Research puts its turnout cost at roughly $59 to $200 per added vote, so target tightly.
- Events and earned media: forums, local news, community papers. Free and trusted.
Digital
- Get authorized first. Meta and Google require political advertiser verification before your ads run. Start early, it takes days.
- Target the voter file. Upload your district's voters as custom audiences instead of guessing with interests.
- Video wins. Short vertical clips of you talking to neighbors outperform polished ads. Use streaming TV and YouTube when budget allows.
- Retarget people who visited your site or signed a petition.
- Organic social every day: door-knocking clips, endorsements, the election date.
Every ad needs a Florida disclaimer
Candidate ads must say "Political advertisement paid for and approved by (name), (party affiliation), for (office)" or the short form "Paid by (name), (party affiliation), for (office)." Only incumbents may say "re-elect." Check the state candidate handbook for rules on small items, texts and digital ads.
10
Do the math: your win number
Campaigns are won with arithmetic. Estimate how many people will vote, decide what share you need, subtract the votes your party base will likely give you, and the gap is what your field program has to produce. Pick a real race to start, or enter your own numbers.
Win number0
Votes your base likely brings0
Gap your campaign must close0
Conversations needed0
Doors to knock0
Volunteer shifts0
Doors per week0
Winning vote totals from recent Florida races
| Race | Winner | Winner's votes | Total votes | Margin |
|---|
2026 figures are unofficial returns reported Nov 3 to 5, 2026. 2024 figures are certified state results.
11
Knock the doors
Face-to-face contact is the most effective thing a campaign can do with volunteer time. Yale political scientists Donald Green and Alan Gerber found door-to-door canvassing adds about one vote for every 14 people you talk to, at roughly $19 per vote. Leaflets alone took about 200 contacts per vote, and email and robocalls showed no detectable turnout effect.
Who to knock
Start with likely supporters who do not always vote, then persuadable independents. Skip strong opponents. Your voter file tells you who is who.
What to say
Name, why you are running, one issue, then the plan: "Will you vote by mail or early? Which day?" Write their answer down.
How often
Plan to hit your priority doors two or three times. Most people are not home the first time.
- Knock in the late afternoon, early evening and weekend midday. Avoid dinner and Sunday morning.
- Record every result the same day: support level, issues, vote plan, volunteer interest, email and cell.
- The candidate should knock personally. Voters remember the person who came to their door.
12
Close strong and protect the count
- Chase every mail ballot your supporters requested until it shows as returned.
- Early vote pushes: rides, reminders, souls-to-the-polls style events.
- Recruit poll watchers through your county party and know the rules for your county.
- Cure ballots. Mail ballots with signature problems can be fixed by a short deadline after Election Day. In 2026, a few hundred uncured ballots decided whether FL-27 went to a recount.
- Know the recount rules. Florida triggers an automatic machine recount at a margin of 0.5 percentage points or less, and a manual review at 0.25 or less.
Thinking about running?
Tell us which seat. We will connect you with Democrats who have done it, and with volunteers in your district.
Sources
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm every requirement with the office that qualifies your race.