Running for Office — United States

A player's strategy guide — from declaring candidacy to winning your first seat

Contents

1. Eligibility & Requirements
2. Choosing Your Race
3. The Primary Phase
4. The General Phase
5. What Wins Elections
6. Campaign Upgrades
7. Political Influence
8. Building Favorability
9. Quick Tips

1. Eligibility & Requirements

Before you can file for any race, three conditions must be met: you need a character, you need to be a member of a political party, and the election must be accepting candidates.

Required

• Active character (created on profile)
• Party membership before filing
• Election must be in primary or active phase
• Race must be in your home state (local/state) or country (federal)

Restrictions

• One active race at a time
• Switching parties auto-withdraws your candidacy
• Entry closes once the primary phase ends

Consider joining a party first. Joining a party before filing gives you access to the party organization bonus in the vote formula — independents compete without it. Check the parties page for your country's options before the next election opens.

2. Choosing Your Race

Local and state races are your entry point. They are shorter, cheaper to run, and — if you win — they grant a permanent bonus to your action count and Political Influence generation that carries into future campaigns. Avoid jumping straight for a Senate seat; the incumbency and influence gap is brutal without an existing base.

Race	Duration	Scope	Good first race?
State Legislature	~8 days	Home state	Yes — low cost, fast result
House of Representatives	~4 days	Home state district	Yes — short cycle
Governor	~8 days	Home state	Strong second race
Senate	~12 days	Home state	After building influence

House races are the fastest ladder. A House term lasts only 2 game years (about 4 real days). Win one, hold it, and you build steady Political Influence that makes every subsequent race easier.

3. The Primary Phase

Campaign upgrades are a presidential race feature. The full campaign system described below — fundraising tiers, media spending, ground game, opposition research, and campaign actions — applies to presidential elections only. In congressional and state races, the vote formula (alignment, PI, favorability, party org) still determines the outcome, but the upgrade infrastructure does not apply. Player endorsements also only grant campaign actions in presidential races.

The primary is your first hurdle: winning enough support within your own party to advance to the general. Use the elections page to find open races and click Declare Candidacy.

What to prioritize during the primary

1.Spend campaign actions on fundraising upgrades first. All campaign upgrades cost 1.5× more during the general phase. Lock in your fundraising level while costs are at the primary rate.
2.Use actions to build Political Influence. Each campaign action generates Political Influence — the stat that determines how many voters you can actually reach. Low PI = low ceiling, no matter how well-aligned your positions are.
3.Watch your favorability. Favorability directly scales your vote total. A candidate with 0% favorability gets zero votes regardless of other stats. Use media spending to push it up incrementally each turn.

Endorsements matter. Your per-turn action count is 1 + floor(√endorsements × 3). Actively seek endorsements from NPPs and allied players — even a handful meaningfully increases your action rate.

4. The General Phase

If you advance from the primary, the general campaign begins. All upgrade costs rise by 50%, so the general phase is about execution — not setup. Front-load your strategic decisions.

Do early

• Upgrade media spending to your target level
• Set up opposition research if running against a strong incumbent
• Reinvest campaign income into ground game if polling close

Final 4 turns

• Media spending effectiveness doubles
• Opposition research effectiveness doubles
• This is your burst window — make sure the upgrades are already in place

The late-campaign multiplier does not activate upgrades you haven't bought. If you spend those final 4 turns purchasing media spending levels, you're paying 1.5× cost for half the uptime. Buy early, benefit late.

5. What Wins Elections

Votes are calculated per demographic group, not as a simple aggregate. Each group allocates votes among candidates in proportion to their relative appeal. Your total vote share is the sum of what you receive from each group.

Appeal = Position Alignment × Political Influence (Reach) × Favorability × Party Organization

Position Alignment = (50 - |economic gap| × 5 - |social gap| × 5)² / 100
Reach             = min(2.0, log(PI + 1) / log(101))  (~0.85 at PI 50, 1.0 at PI 100)
Favorability      = favorability% / 100
Party Org         = 1.0 + (partyOrg / 100) × 0.6   (range 1.0 to 1.6, no penalty for low org)

All four factors multiply together. A weakness in any one column drags down everything else:

Factor	What drives it	How to improve
Position Alignment	How close your economic/social positions are to each voter group	Set positions in your character profile to match your target coalition
Political Influence	How many voters you can actually reach	Campaign actions, holding office, and time
Favorability	Raw approval — zero means zero votes	Media spending, campaign actions, endorsements
Party Organization	Your party's strength in the state	Party actions, GOTV upgrades, winning prior races

FPTP and third-party spoilers

Most races use First Past the Post. Under FPTP, the nearest major-party candidate loses approximately 4% of their vote share to you as a spoiler — but this is rarely enough to overcome the structural FPTP disadvantage. This spoiler effect disappears in states that use Ranked Choice Voting — in RCV races, third-party runs are fully competitive.

State government approval affects your ceiling. Voter enthusiasm for state-level races is multiplied by the current state government approval rating. Running in a state where the incumbent party is unpopular is a structural advantage — the entire vote pool is more energized.

6. Campaign Upgrades

Upgrades are purchased with campaign funds — a separate pool from your personal cash. Campaign funds accumulate from passive fundraising income each turn plus any party contributions. You cannot convert campaign funds back to personal cash.

Upgrade	Max level	Effect	Note
Fundraising	10	Passive income per turn	Buy in primary to avoid 1.5× general markup
Media Spending	5 + maintenance	+0.5% favorability/turn per level	Doubles final 4 turns
Ground Game	5 + maintenance	+3% turnout/level in swing states	Most valuable in close races
Opposition Research	5	−0.5% opponent favorability/turn per level	Doubles final 4 turns; pick one target

Passive fundraising income by level

Fundraising level	Income per turn
0 (default)	$20,000
1	$35,000
5	$200,000
10	$5,000,000

7. Political Influence

Political Influence (PI) is your reach multiplier. At PI 0, you contact zero voters regardless of alignment or favorability. At PI 100, you reach every eligible voter in the state. PI decays over time and must be actively maintained.

Decay per turn = current PI × 0.75%
  At PI 100:  −0.75 per turn
  At PI 50:   −0.375 per turn
  At PI 10:   −0.075 per turn
  → Proportional decay: higher PI decays faster in absolute terms,
    but the percentage loss rate is constant.

Gains:
  Campaign action:    +1% PI per action spent
  Holding office:     Bonus actions, easier maintenance
  Endorsements:       Indirectly via more actions per turn

Holding office is the best PI engine. Elected officials receive bonus campaign actions each turn. This compounds: more actions = more PI = more reach = easier re-election. A single House term meaningfully changes your trajectory in future races.

8. Building Favorability

Favorability is the easiest stat to neglect and the most punishing to ignore — a candidate at 5% favorability gets roughly 5% of the votes they would otherwise deserve. It decays passively and needs constant investment.

What raises favorability

• Spending campaign actions
• Media spending upgrades (+0.5%/level/turn)
• Endorsements from NPPs and players
• Archetype approval bonuses

What lowers it

• Natural decay each turn
• Opponent opposition research (−0.5%/level/turn)
• Poor policy alignment visibility

9. Quick Tips

→Join your party before elections open. Entry closes at the end of the primary window. Switching parties after filing withdraws your candidacy.
→Buy fundraising upgrades in the primary, not the general. The 1.5× general cost multiplier makes pre-primary investment significantly more efficient.
→Check what voting system your state uses. FPTP punishes third-party runs; RCV does not. Know before you file as an independent.
→Pick your position carefully. Positions affect alignment with every demographic group. Shifting them mid-campaign doesn't help — the calculation uses your current values, but voters remember.
→Use opposition research on one target, not spread across multiple. The drain is per level per target. Concentrating it on the front-runner is almost always correct.
→Local office is not a stepping stone to ignore. It is the best per-turn PI engine available early on. Treat it seriously.

Convening the chamber...