Might as well collect your share of the little brown envelopes.

@boersun

@FatSteve

They are a good way to get you feet wet.  A lot of those positions are appointed not elected but that depends on the locale.  

Anyone wanting to get into politics should begin by attending or at least viewing meetings online of whatever board they are planning to run for and probably the one above (City and county for instance) and research the issues they are dealing with so that you can speak competently.

As far as a marketing rep that's hard.  You have to hope that you can find someone competent who will work for free or learn it yourself.

@JaredGrey I'll post the info here in a minute but am going to PM you my cell phone to call me tonight.

NukeFromOrbit is 100% correct.  It sounds like he and I are in almost exactly parallel positions.  

I'm not the chairman of my county party but organized an activist conservative takeover and found an extremely competent guy to serve in that role while I serve as the communications director.  Like nuke I'm also a state party delegate and have helped multiple people win office now and have defeated dems almost 100% in a formerly blue/purple county.  

My dem opponents are constantly googling me and have a web designer lefty that I stomped in this year's school board election who is e-stalking me so gotta be careful what I say but it's about time to put a how to get elected post up.

All of this!

Questions to learn the answer to as a first step.

How is the seat filled in this case?  Is it an actual special election or do the remaining board members select the replacement?  In many non-partisan seats (school & city) the remaining members advertise for applications then select a replacement to complete the unexpired term.  The selected member will run in the next regular election for that seat, or sometimes, in the next regular election for the final year or two of that seat's term.

If it's a selection by the board then you need to learn everything you can about the position and issues, polish up your resume and figure out how to make your name known without appearing to be a phony ingratiating yourself.  Having a known reputation in town helps.  You don't have to be a man about town but ideally don't leave them all saying "who?"  If you don't have any name recognition then you need to be a rock star of competence and calm that blows their socks off.

If you're up for a standard election...
Find out who the electors are?  Is this an at large position that the entire city votes for or are you representing your district or ward?  That tells you who to target.

What is the political demographic of your electorate?  Messaging in a 75% Republican district will be very different than messaging in a 55% or 40% Republican district.  Know your audience.

Next you need to get the list of people who voted in at least the last election for that position with the following data.  Name, Party, Address, contact info, method of voting (early or day of).  That's provided by the county clerk.

That data tells you who to target when and how.  You need to hit the early voters before mail in ballots hit their mailboxes.

Before you start visiting voters you had better know a wide range of subjects because everyone will ask about whatever they care about.  The obvious things for a city are sales taxes, property taxes, roads, water, sewer and whatever hot button issues the city is dealing with like homeless or crime or bringing in employers.

If you have time and maybe have the help of a competent republican party (or the funds) you can look at prior big elections like presidential vs your position and find the people who only vote in the big elections.  With the right hook or motivation and outreach you can probably get some of them to turn out too but that requires the right situation and some money spent.  This would only be worth it if you are looking at a tight race and are willing to spend the money or time for a few more percent.

That brings up money.  Size of market will determine your outlay.  A small city like mine at 20,000 residents and an at large election means probably $5000 to give you a number.  Yard signs are $5-$7 each and you'll need a few hundred at least.  A high quality mailer will require you to spend $1.20 - $1.50 per person.  In a perfect world you would send a mailer to land in early voter's mailboxes the day before or day of (if you're feeling frisky) same day that mail in ballots land in mailboxes.  You would have a second mailer land in mailboxes the day before the general.

On top of that you need to knock on every door of a known good voter or at least have trusted people knock with you across the street from you.  Ideal door knocking is done in teams of two and even better a man and woman dressed business casual.  You need to have a handout to give people that has a family friendly picture of you with bullet points of what you want to do/care about and your bullet point bio.  If you have people knocking for you they need to be able to answer competently like you would and be ready to offer your phone number to anyone who wants to talk to you directly.  "Why are you here instead of him?"  "He's across the street/around the block/in another neighborhood but would be happy to speak with you if you'd like me to have him come by or I can give you his cell phone number."

Social media and messaging is a whole 'nother subject but that's for another day.

Wow!

Arf has some quality politically knowledgeable people in this thread!  Who knew there were so many arf'ers who have stepped up and served their communities all across the nation.

Gentlemen I raise a toast to all of you!  Let's see if we can get Jared to join the ranks of electeds!

Way to go Eagle!  I wish more people saw the importance of being the voice in the wilderness even when they are the minority.  

Speaking to your conscience and voting your principles against a majority when you know you will lose inspires other people.

Too many people buckle and vote with the majority just to not stand alone.  That guarantees they are seen as just more of the same.  Kudos to you for standing strong.