The Campaign Plan and the Budget

A campaign plan for a city council ward or a school zone fits on one page. That is its virtue. Most first-time local candidates do not lose for lack of a plan; they lose because the plan was in their head, where it kept changing. Writing it down forces the answers: how many votes you need, who those voters are, and what you will say to them, with dates and dollars attached. This lesson walks through each, with real Idaho turnout figures, the rules on voter lists, and two sample budgets.

Know the electorate

When the election is

Idaho holds local elections on a short list of dates. Idaho Code 34-106, amended in 2024 and again in 2025, allows elections on the third Tuesday in May and on the November general election date, plus an emergency special election in a declared disaster. Irrigation districts get extra February and August dates for questions Title 43 requires them to put to voters, and water districts are exempt. City initiatives and referendums go only on the November ballot in odd-numbered years. Lesson 1 maps which offices fall on which date; for planning, the point is that your election day is fixed by statute years in advance.

The date shapes the electorate. A partisan county race in an even-year November shares the ballot with Congress and sometimes the governor, so turnout is high and most voters will know little about you. An odd-year November city or trustee election has nothing above it, and the people who vote are mostly habitual local voters. A May election on a bond or a district seat may draw even fewer.

What turnout looks like

Election	Turnout of registered voters	Source
Idaho statewide, November 2020 general	81.16%	Idaho Press via KTVB, citing the state canvass
Idaho statewide, November 2018 general	66.75%	Same
Idaho statewide, November 2022 general	56.8%	Same
Boise citywide, November 2019 (mayor and council)	33.4%	Syndicated report on Boise's 2023 turnout
Boise citywide, November 2023 (mayor and council)	43.8%	Same
Boise citywide, November 2025 (council)	34.6%	BoiseDev, Nov. 5, 2025
Ada County, all November 2021 local races	23.8%	BoiseDev
Ada County, all November 2025 local races	29.6%	BoiseDev
Meridian, November 2021 (three council districts)	21.5%	BoiseDev
Garden City, November 2021 and 2025 (contested mayor)	38% and 43.8%	BoiseDev

The pattern is plain. Even-year general elections draw a majority of registered voters. Odd-year city elections draw a third or so, more when a mayor's race is contested, less when seats are uncontested. BoiseDev reported that in 2025 all three Meridian council candidates ran unopposed and citywide voters had only a levy to decide; turnout was 21 percent, and only 6,510 ballots came back from the districts that had a council name on the ballot. A contested race brings voters out. A dull one keeps them home.

These are Ada County numbers because they are the ones published and checked. Your county's turnout may be higher or lower. Get the real figure for your own jurisdiction: the county clerk's official canvass for the last two elections for your office, by precinct. Many clerks post canvass reports online; if yours does not, ask the elections office for them. The Secretary of State's voter registration totals give monthly registration counts by county and legislative district going back to 2008.

The voter list and what you may do with it

Idaho makes its voter list available to anyone. Under Idaho Code 34-437, a county clerk must give "any individual" a current list of the county's registered voters and their addresses, grouped by precinct, for the cost of reproducing it. Under 34-437A, the Secretary of State provides copies of the statewide list on the same cost basis. The Secretary of State's order form (revised November 2023) lists a voter registration report for $20, a registration report with voter history for $20, and an absentee ballot report for $10, statewide or by congressional or legislative district, delivered by download link or on a USB drive.

Both statutes say the same thing about use. The lists may be used "for any political purpose." They may not be used to mail or deliver advertisements or offers for any property, establishment, product or service, or to mail or deliver solicitations for money, services or anything of value. The order form makes the buyer sign an acknowledgement of that restriction under 34-437A(3), and says the form itself becomes a public record.

The second half of that rule catches campaigns. A postcard about your position on the water rate increase, sent to everyone on the list in your ward, is a political use. A letter asking those same voters to send a check is a solicitation for money, and the statute bars using list information to mail or deliver it. Build your fundraising list from people who have already given, signed up or asked to help, not from the voter file. If you are not sure whether a piece crosses the line, ask the Secretary of State's elections division before it goes out.

Voter history is the valuable part. It shows which elections each voter cast a ballot in (never how they voted). A list of voters who cast ballots in at least one of the last two odd-year city elections is a much smaller and more useful universe than the full roll.

The win number

The win number is how many votes you need, and it decides almost everything else in the plan: how many doors, how many pieces of mail, how much money. It takes four inputs.

1. Registered voters in your district, ward or zone, from the county clerk or the voter list.
2. Expected turnout, from the last two comparable elections for this office. Comparable matters: use the last odd-year city election, not last year's presidential race.
3. Drop-off, the share of voters who cast a ballot but skip your race. Precinct canvass reports show it: compare total ballots with total votes in the race.
4. The field: how many serious candidates, and whether the seat is "vote for one" or "vote for two."

Some adjustments come up often. In a three-way race with no runoff, a plurality wins, so the target drops: in the example above, 1,515 / 3 is 505, but a real three-way race rarely splits evenly, and 40 percent (606) is a safer goal than 34 percent. In a "vote for two" at-large race, each voter can pick two candidates, so the useful figure is how many votes the second-place winner got last time. Look it up in the canvass and aim above it.

The message and the case for you

Local voters ask a narrow question: will this person do the job well, and do they see the problem the way I do? The message is your answer in plain words. Start from the office. A highway district commissioner decides road maintenance priorities and budgets. A library trustee sets policy for the library and hires the director. A school trustee approves budgets, adopts policy and hires the superintendent. A message that promises things the office cannot do tells informed voters you have not done the homework. Course 26's Who Governs What and The Budget Cycle are a fast check.

Then pick one or two local issues and say where you stand. The invented water rate increase in Cedar Bluff is a good model: you can be for it with conditions, against it until an audit is done, or for a phased version, and each is a clear position a voter can remember. Be specific about what you would do in your first year. "I will ask for a public line-by-line review of the water fund before any rate vote" beats "I will bring accountability."

Write the case in three versions: one sentence for a door, one paragraph for a mailer, and a two-minute answer for a forum. Use the same words in all three. Repetition feels dull to the candidate long before it reaches the voter.

The calendar, built backward

Start at election day and work back. Some dates are fixed by law; the rest are your choices.

When (before election day)	What	Fixed by
Election day	Polls open; poll watchers in place if you appointed one (lesson 7)	34-106
Final four weeks	Peak doors and mail; follow up with identified supporters about voting	Your plan
Each month in the election year	Sunshine report due the 10th once you pass $500	67-6607, 67-6608
10th Friday, 5 p.m.	Filing closes for political subdivision races under 34-1404	34-1404
12th Monday, 8 a.m.	Filing opens	34-1404
4 to 6 months out	Decide; line up treasurer; order the voter list; collect petition signatures if your office uses them (lesson 3)	Your plan
6 to 12 months out	Attend meetings of the body you want to join; read its budget; meet the clerk	Your plan

Under Idaho Code 34-1404, for elections in political subdivisions, filing opens at 8:00 a.m. on the twelfth Monday before the election and closes at 5:00 p.m. on the tenth Friday before it, with the county clerk, on a petition signed by at least five electors of your zone or district. Partisan county offices use a different calendar tied to the May primary. Lesson 3 has the details for each office, including filing fees and petitions in lieu of fees. The point for planning is that the declaration comes about ten weeks before election day, so most of the real campaign happens after filing closes, and the work that wins it (lists, volunteers, money, message) has to be ready before filing opens.

Ask your county clerk when ballots will be mailed to voters who requested absentee ballots and when early voting runs, if your county offers it for this election. A voter who mails a ballot two weeks before election day has finished listening to you. Many campaigns aim their last mail piece to land before absentee ballots go out, then a second at the start of the final week.

The budget

What a local race costs depends on the size of the district and the competition. Look up past races for your office in the Sunshine search; reports since 2020 show what winners and losers spent and on what. The two budgets below are invented examples with round-number prices to show the shape. Get real quotes from local printers and the post office before you commit.

Item	$3,000 race (one ward, 5,000 voters)	$15,000 race (citywide or county, 25,000 voters)
Filing fee or petition costs (lesson 3)	$40	$100
Yard signs and stakes	$700 (150 signs)	$2,400 (500 signs plus 20 large signs)
Walk cards and door hangers	$450 (3,000 pieces)	$1,200 (10,000 pieces)
Mail to likely voters	$1,200 (one postcard to about 2,000 households)	$6,500 (three pieces to about 8,000 households)
Digital ads and boosted posts	$200	$1,800
Website, domain, email tool	$100	$300
Voter list with history	$20	$20
Events (room, coffee, printing)	$90	$600
Newspaper or radio ad	$0	$1,200
Bank fees, online payment fees	$50	$280
Reserve for the last week	$150	$600
Total	$3,000	$15,000

Check the arithmetic: 40 + 700 + 450 + 1,200 + 200 + 100 + 20 + 90 + 0 + 50 + 150 = 3,000. And 100 + 2,400 + 1,200 + 6,500 + 1,800 + 300 + 20 + 600 + 1,200 + 280 + 600 = 15,000.

Mail is the biggest line in both budgets because it reaches people who will not open the door, and because a mail piece can be aimed: only households with a likely voter, only the precincts that matter. Signs are the line candidates overspend on. They tell voters your name and that someone supports you, which helps in a low-information race, but a sign does not explain your position on anything. Put the money that would buy the 151st sign into another postcard.

Money in, money out

Write the fundraising plan beside the budget. A $3,000 race might be $1,000 of the candidate's own money and $2,000 from 40 people giving an average of $50. A $15,000 race needs real asks: a list of 150 people, a goal for each, and a calendar. Keep the $1,000 per-donor limit in mind (lesson 5), and remember that the $500 Sunshine trigger counts your own money. Plan your spending so the money is in the bank before the bill arrives. A campaign that orders $6,500 of mail in its last month on the hope of a late fundraiser has a debt problem in December.

Everything in the budget shows up on Sunshine reports: each vendor paid $25 or more, by name, date, amount and purpose (67-6607(1)(b)). A supporter who prints your signs at cost has given you an in-kind contribution equal to the discount. A supporter who designs your mailer for free, if that is their trade, has given you the value of the work.

Volunteers and endorsements

Volunteers are the cheapest way to reach the win number, and in a local race they usually come from your own life: neighbors, coworkers, people from your church or your kid's team. Ask early and ask for something specific: "Can you knock doors with me two Saturdays in October?" works better than "Let me know if you want to help." Give each volunteer a short script, a walk list from the voter file and a clear return time. Volunteer time is not a contribution under 67-6602(3), and a volunteer's own incidental costs up to $25 are not either.

Endorsements carry weight in local races, where voters have few other cues. A named former mayor, a respected teacher, a neighborhood association president: their names on a mailer tell voters someone they trust has looked at you. Ask permission in writing for any name you print. Groups may also endorse. Remember that a 501(c)(3) charity may not endorse or oppose a candidate at all (course 46's Nonprofits in Politics), and that a group that plans its spending with you has made an in-kind contribution rather than an independent expenditure (lesson 5 of course 46). City, school and most district races are nonpartisan on the ballot; lesson 4 covers what parties may and may not do in them.

Disclaimers on everything

Idaho Code 67-6614A requires the person who pays for a communication expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate to be "clearly indicated" on it, in broadcast, print, outdoor advertising, direct mail and other general public political advertising. The Secretary of State's local candidate guide gives the plain example: "Paid for by" and the candidate's name. That goes on signs, push cards, door hangers, mailers, ads and your website. Course 46's Literature, Signs and Ads covers the details, including sign placement and digital ads.