The Maryland Democratic Party, through a partnership with the DNC Best Practices Institute and National Democratic Training Committee offers four yearly trainings for candidates, prospective or otherwise, to include:
- How to be a candidate.
- Core campaign concepts like Fundraising, Communications, Field/Organizing, Data and Digital.
- Training from top national political operatives with significant campaign experience.
- The most up-to-date information.
These trainings are free for all Democratic candidates who wish to participate.
Training Dates TBD
VAN is a database that is provided at a cost for candidates at all levels. VAN provides candidates with access to the “Voter File” for the area you’re running in. Other advantages to having VAN include, but are not limited to:
- Voter Registration information for your specific electoral map including party affiliation.
- Ability to create canvassing “turf” for door to door contact and virtual phonebanks.
- Ability to track voter contact information through the above mentioned methods
- Ability to track volunteer participation and recruitment.
- Ability to create unique targeted universes for your campaign.
- And so much more.
For more information on how to acquire VAN, or to learn more about it, please contact Mikayla Salazar, MDP Voter File Manager at [email protected].
If you wish to speak directly with the MDP Executive Director Vincent Harrington as a first time/prospective candidate, please email him at [email protected]
Want to run for office?
If you’re interested in running for office here are a few things you should think about!
Here are some common offices that will appear on the ballot in 2022:
Federal Offices:
U.S. Senate
U.S. Congress
State Offices:
Governor
Comptroller
Attorney General
State Senate
House of Delegates
County Offices:
County Executive
County Council
County Commissioner
States Attorney
Register of Wills
Orphan’s Court Judge
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Sheriff
Party Office:
Central Committees
Depending on the office you’re running for, there are different requirements and qualifications to file.
To learn more, check out these Maryland State Board of Elections pages:
For Candidate Requirements, click here.
For Candidate Qualifications, click here.
Ready to File?
To read instructions about filing to be a candidate in the 2022 Gubernatorial Election, click here.
To learn more about campaign finance, click here.
For Federal Offices:
- To learn more about filing for Federal Offices through the FEC, click here.