520,000 elected offices — and Democrats aren’t competing in up to 75% of them.
It’s time to Contest Every Race.
669
Candidates recruited
200
Percent more likely to file
49
Percent of our candidates won their races
66
Percent of our candidates are women or persons of color
“I would have never ever thought about running if I hadn’t gotten that text.”
-Christina Estill, Town Trustee, New Albany, IN
How It Works
Map Every Uncontested Race
Contact every county party chair, Indivisible Chapter, and Democratic municipal official to get local knowledge on which races are uncontested.
Recruit Potential Candidates
Work with the state Democratic party to reach out to Democrats, and support MoveOn and other major progressive organizations in texting their members to encourage them to run.
Help Them Get Ready to Run
Invite prospective candidates to meet local party leaders, connect them with candidate coaches and training resources, and help them file to run.
Win Races and Build the Bench
Support candidates by connecting them to the tools and resources they need to be successful and win!
We recruit Democrats to run for office where it matters
For too long, Republicans have been the only ones competing in local, rural races. Contest Every Race is an unprecedented coalition of organizations working to transform this moment of crisis into long-term change. Our aim is to move local and national politics towards a democracy that works for everyone. When we stop the GOP from running up the score in rural areas, we’ll start winning back state houses, governors’ mansions — and Congress.
Find out more
Interested in Running for Office?
Do you want to want to be a force for change in your community? Nominate yourself to run in an uncontested race by signing up. If we find uncontested races in your area, we will contact you with information about how to run!
Award-Winning Methods
We won an Expy Award from the Analyst Institute for running large experiments measuring candidate recruitment. We are deeply nerdy folk. If you are too, check out some of our randomized control trials.
Our Research
What Our Candidates Say
Texting encourages community leaders to raise their hand and run for office
Starting the Conversation
“Your text asking me to run got the whole conversation started. I had a long talk with the county party chair—and within a few days I had filed to run for the Kansas State House!”
Friendly and helpful
"Filing for your first political office can be intimidating to say the least. The consistent texting, information and friendliness of Contest Every Race was immeasurable, so here’s to a loud and heartfelt thank you!"
The Needed Nudge
"I was on the fence about running so I thought I would wait, but when that [text] came in I thought “No, I should go ahead and run”."