Overview

Are you running for a seat in the state legislature or county/municipal government? Are you an all-or-mostly volunteer campaign? Are you a progressive underdog facing significant fundraising or political obstacles?

Then consider applying to partner with Team Underdog.

This project helped 82% of supported candidates to win despite significant challenges. Here’s some examples:

• Red-to-Blue: Led to ouster of a long-serving Republican despite a down Democratic year (when past candidates couldn’t win even during high Democratic turnout years). Also, provided the initial groundwork and connections for other Red-to-Blue flips.
• State Demographics: Built coalitions to help Delaware to be ranked #1 nationally for electing Black & LGBTQ state legislators since 2018.
• Incumbency: Won in 75% of races against an incumbent.
• Fundraising: Won in 76% races when outraised by opponents, even at a rate of 8-1!

Services

All of the following services are free for accepted candidates. These are provided by experienced skill specialists who want to volunteer their time for underdog races.

• Campaign and project management: Your most precious resource is time. If you don’t have a campaign manager, it can be hard to keep track of everything you need. You can connect with an experienced coach/project manager who can save you time and keep you on the path to victory.
• Advertising development and deployment: Hiring consultants to create your ads can significantly increase your budget. You can get support with your direct mail, digital advertising, etc.
• Fundraising. If you don’t have big wealthy networks it can be hard to figure out how to raise enough money to win. You can gain relationships and strategies to raise what you need to win.
• Volunteer / team capacity building. It’s hard to build a reliable team so it can feel like you’re doing almost everything on the campaign yourself. You can get support to build your volunteer base and team.
• Peer support. Being a candidate can feel isolating. You can join with other candidates facing similar situations to learn and support each other.