A political campaign is a large, coordinated operation designed to elect or defeat a candidate for a public office. Competitive campaigns require the most professional operations, because they often determine control of a branch or office, and influence highly salient policy debates. However, even non-competitive races can involve considerable resources and effort, because the potential for gain, loss or inaction is high.
During election cycles (every two years), thousands of nationwide campaigns are organized to support or oppose candidates for a variety of offices, from local council seats to state and federal legislative positions to city and statewide executive offices. Most of these are candidate campaigns, organized by individual candidates and their volunteers. Others are partisan campaigns, sponsored by major party ecosystems to protect or gain the party’s incumbents and to challenge public offices held by members of opposing parties.
Aside from a few presidential campaigns, most of these partisan campaigns are focused on legislative or executive branch offices. These account for the bulk of electoral opportunities in each cycle, with 535 congressional seats, 736 state legislative seats, and tens of thousands of city or county council seats up for grabs. Legislative campaigns are generally the most organized and structured, with many relying on formalized campaign committees to manage their operations. In addition to partisan committees, major political parties often have programs for protecting their own incumbents and challenging their opponents, as well as programs to recruit young people into legislative and executive branch careers.