91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn

Have You Ever Run For Local Office And Lost? NPR Wants To Hear From You

Updated Aug. 15

Every year, thousands of Americans try their hand at breaking into politics by running for some kind of elected office.

It's a noble act, often aimed at trying to make a difference — on a school board, a city council or a zoning commission.

But it isn't easy, and many passionate, intelligent people don't know where to start.

NPR's politics team and Life Kit are putting together a how-to guide — in podcast form — on running for office.

If you ran for office and lost, we want to hear from you.

Whether your campaign was more Veep or more West Wing, we want your stories. If you ran a House of Cards campaign, maybe keep that to yourselves.

What are the things you wish you had known going in? What mistakes did you make? What clever tips would you give to newcomers?

Tell us by filling out the form below.

This form was closed on July 12.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Miles Parks is a reporter on NPR's Washington Desk. He covers voting and elections, and also reports on breaking news.
More Stories
  1. Netanyahu's government has voted to shut down the Al Jazeera office in Israel
  2. In 'The Fall Guy,' stunts finally get the spotlight
  3. Ukraine's Zelenskyy calls God an "ally" against Russia in Orthodox Easter message
  4. Mystik Dan wins the Kentucky Derby by a nose
  5. NYC says half of those arrested at 2 pro-Palestinian campus protests were not students