As former Speaker Tip O’Neill said, “All politics are local.”  Local government plays a far more important and direct impact on most citizens than many higher offices.  Quite often, they also need the most help.  There are lots of ways for you to get involved in your local neighborhood and community, and we at TeamPurple_MN want to help you get involved.

If your aim is to run for election, whether it be for city council, school board or a state office,  we want to help you get started.  We’ll be posting filing deadlines, some tips from people who have been through the process before, and help provide information on how to get the word out about your campaign.

If being a candidate for office isn’t your thing, there are still many other ways you can get involved in helping facilitate the process.  Cities and counties are always looking for assistance.  For instance, you can:

• Serve as an election judge, where you work at the polls on election day.  Local municipalities are already working to organize election locations for the state primaries right now, and will need even more assistance on general election day in November.  If you’ve never done it before, they’ll tell you everything you’ll need to know, and it’s a genuinely fun experience!  Contact your local city or county clerk for more information.
• Help local candidates with a meet and greet, door knocking, phone banking or other campaign assistance.  Volunteering on a campaign is a great way to meet current or potential elected officials on a more personal level, gain great experience, and get informed of other events around your community.  As a general rule, the more local the campaign, the more assistance they need.  A quick google search can help you find your mayor, city councilperson, school board members. county board members and other important local officials.
  •  To find your current Minnesota State Legislative Officials and legislative districts, you can go to this website, enter your address and find out who represents you:   https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/
  • If your personal views differ from your current elected official, you may have to do a search to find the candidate you want.  You can use the legislative districts from the link above and then search for other candidates who may be running to represent the same district.
• Get involved in local civic organizations.  These help form the backbone of any community and are often engaged in many different areas. You can often find out more about these through your local community center, library or city hall.

If you know of any additional ways to get involved locally, let us at TeamPurple_MN know!  Send a message of your activity and we’ll work to add it here and inform others of your event!