In 2023, I ran for an open seat on the city council for Auburn Hills, Michigan. My campaign was not successful, but I learned a number of things that would help a future campaign, as well as other campaigners interested in public office in the future.

First and foremost: As of this writing, municipal elections live and die on the absentee ballot. In 2023, a total of 8145 ballots were counted for the city council election. Of those, a whopping 75% were absentee ballots. Thus, it's absolutely critical for any campaigner to be ready day-and-date with print materials, door knockers, etc., when absentee ballots come out. In my city, the City Clerk's office was fantastic when it came to advising candidates on absentee ballot statuses, voter registration numbers, etc.

I don't think local voters cared much about online. Of the candidates running, I had by far the most robust online offerings, as well as active social media, and that didn't really translate into votes. Moreover, Internet advertising such as Facebook ads, while providing great reach, didn't appear to translate into voter motion either. I did have some voters approach me after the fact, commenting on this. I ran into some folks while out and about, several months after the election, who told me that I was the only candidate with a website, and they liked that they could learn something about me before voting. (This isn't accurate, there were other candidates with websites but while I might be biased, I do think mine was more detailed than that of my competition. You can check out my archived campaign website at www.boyer2023.com and look for yourself. (As of May 2024, the site is no longer active.)

All that said, the most effective solution for a local election, is the tried-and-true getting out on foot and meeting voters where they are, knocking on doors and canvassing, that sort of thing. Direct mail being secondary, but again, this needs to be in advance of, or day-and-date of the first run of absentee ballots. For folks inclined to vote in a municipal election, those are the moves that gets the most attention and I think, the most return for your effort.

What do you think? Have you run for public office? Did you win/lose, what did you learn? Email me at cwb.talk@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts.