5 Common Mistakes Made When Running for Office

New Candidate Mistakes: Don’t Let Them Ruin Your Chances

As a potential candidate, you probably hear advice from all avenues, friends, family, other candidates, or past stories of experience. Unfortunately, much of the advice you receive might be mistaken truth but could potentially harm your campaign. Learning about common mistakes can help you to avoid them, and if you’ve already stumbled in your campaign, our team can help. Our Harrisburg election law attorneys at Scaringi Law can help you as you pursue candidacy and move through your campaign. With legal guidance from experienced, skilled attorneys from our team, you can be sure that you do not make any legal missteps while you fund-raise, poll, express your message, and offset any roadblocks that arise.

5 Common Mistakes

Despite the process being somewhat familiar because of access to years of prior experience of previous candidates, there are still ways that a political candidate can blunder during a campaign. Below are five common ways that a candidate could potentially sabotage his or her own campaign while running for office in Pennsylvania.

1. Fundraising: Whether you do not start early enough, or you are lackadaisical in your fundraising techniques, it is a grave mistake to not take fundraising seriously. Although many publicized candidates publicly profess their thankfulness for small donation, these smaller amounts of money make up only a small percent of campaign funds. It is imperative to have substantial donations set up for your desired campaign efforts and to seek avenues outside of your family and friends. As you collect donations, it is also critical to keep meticulous records of every donation including making photocopies of all checks and keeping any cash donation receipts.
2. Research and Preparation: It is best to speak with a member of our legal team before you move forward into any campaign so that you do not miss any steps in the process. You will need to file paperwork, and make several important decisions before you begin, so contact our firm for legal guidance every step of the way.
3. Utilizing Social Media Correctly: Social media has a huge impact on campaigns in the age of fast-paced technology. Whether you are combating fake news, dealing with a surprise visit from past mistakes, or are going to use social media to spread positive messaging about your campaign—it pays to know how to leverage social media.
4. Consider Past Events: If you have skeletons in your closet, consider letting them out before anyone else does. It is better to be honest and upfront with any information that could hurt your campaign than to be constantly worried about someone else exposing you. If you are dealing with slander, you have a right to seek legal guidance regarding putting a stop to it.
5. Make Sure You are Qualified: If you are new to politics, you may not be aware of all the legalities of running for office. On the other hand, you may be involved in politics for several years before running yourself. In either case, it is best to make sure that you are eligible to run, and qualified. Retaining legal counsel at the onset can help you avoid missing any steps or not checking all the boxes when it comes to qualifications. Your campaign is going to take time, money, and energy—make sure you are eligible before you get started.

Ask About a consultation: (717) 775-7195

If you are running for office, or are considering a candidacy, you need to have a Harrisburg election law attorney from our team at you side, for legal counsel and help mitigating anything that arises. We can help to make sure you do not make the common mistakes that a new candidate makes, while protecting you from potential attacks from members of the opponent’s team or those who come up from your past. Let our team be your ally as you run for office.

Contact our team to discuss your goals as a candidate and how we can help. Call (717) 775-7195.