Run [for] Local Office, Run!

Have you ever been disappointed in your local representation in Richmond City? Have you ever wondered how these people even get in office? Well, the first step is getting on the ballot and this is the blog post for you!

As a candidate for local office, your main point of contact throughout filing your candidacy is going to be your local General Registrar’s Office. In Richmond City that office is on West Laburnum Avenue and their phone number is 804-646-5950 and their email is vote@rva.gov.

For Richmond Mayor, City Council, and School Board candidates, Election Day is November 5, 2024. All candidates who run for RVA Mayor, RVA Council and RPS Board will run as independent parties which means there will not be a party primary and there will not be a “D” or “R” next to a candidate’s name on the ballot. Since there is no party primary, that also means there is no primary filing fee that one must pay to be on the ballot.

So can YOU run for RVA Mayor, RVA Council, or RPS Board?

Are you registered to vote? Are you a resident of Richmond City? Will you have been a resident of Virginia for one year immediately preceding the November 5, 2024 election date? If you answered all three questions in the affirmative then you, my friend, are eligible to run!

Now that you know you CAN run, HOW do you run? The foremost authority on becoming a candidate for office is going to be Virginia Department of Elections (VDoE) and your local General Registrar. VDoE publishes a candidate bulletin for each election that gives a step-by-step guide on the documents that need to be filed. VDoE also publishes all the forms you need to file with to become a candidate.

But the TLDR is that by June 18, 2024 at 7PM to be a candidate for RVA Mayor, RVA Council, or RPS Board, you will need to file the following forms with the local General Registrar’s office:

  • Declaration of Candidacy – this form simply declares what office you are running for. Importantly, it is required to be notarized OR have two qualified voters be witnesses. This page must be turned in WITH at least 1 completed Petition of Qualified Voters form.

  • Petitions of Qualified Voters – these are the signature pages. To run for RVA Council or RPS Board you will need 125 qualified signatures of voters living in the district for the office you are a candidate. That equates to 11 letter size forms or 7 legal size forms. Each form must be notarized as well. To run for RVA Mayor, you will need a minimum of 500 qualified signatures with at least 50 from each of the nine election districts. That equates to 42 letter size forms or 25 legal size forms. Each form must also be notarized.

  • Statement of Organization for a Candidate – this is an electronic form that you must file through COMET which is the VDoE campaign finance website AND you must file a paper copy with your local General Registrar’s Office. Of note, you will be required to submit campaign finance reports through the COMET system on a regular basis as listed in the VDoE calendar.

While that is a lot of documents to fill out and file, there are some pro tips that can help you on your journey to qualifying for the ballot!

  • The registrar’s office will provide candidates who come into the office a packet of all the forms you need to fill out to get on the ballot which includes a few Petition of Qualified Voter forms!

  • Get more than the minimum signatures! You need 125 (or 500) that are qualified voters so you have to assume some of the signatures you get won’t be validated so get a good margin of more signatures to ensure you make the number required.

  • While you do have to turn in one Petition of Qualified Voters form with the Declaration of Candidacy, you do NOT need to turn in all of your petition forms at once. You are able to turn the petitions in as you go and the registrar’s office will release the number of validated signatures to the candidates upon request every Friday. This means you should not miss the ballot because of lack of signatures since you can keep turning in more until the deadline of June 18th with validation from the registrar’s office.

  • Once you have filed your paperwork, you are eligible to obtain a list of registered voters from the VDoE so you can be more effective in the doors you knock while getting on the ballot. All you have to do is fill out the voter list request form and email it to info@elections.virginia.gov

  • Once you have donations rolling in, you may want to subscribe to NGP Van or Nationbuilder which are voter databases that you can use to create packets for people to knock doors among other things.

  • A pro tip from the General Registrar, Keith Balmer, is that one way to get signatures to get on the ballot is to gather petition signatures outside of the polling places in the district a candidate intends to run because anyone with an “I Voted” sticker would be someone who counts as a qualified voter. This year that means March 5th (Presidential Primary) or June 18th (Congressional Primary). Of note, June 18th at 7PM is the filing deadline for local candidates so it would be cutting it close that day.

 Candidates with questions can contact the registrar’s office at 804-646-5950 or email Kara Wilson at kara.wilson2@rva.gov

So now that you’re on the ballot, the race is yours to win or lose! But one thing is for sure, Richmond City needs candidates like yourself or your friends to step up and get involved in local government either by volunteering for a campaign or running a campaign yourself. 

If you are interested in running for office, keep an eye out on the General Registrar’s social media because they are developing a course that can be taken on how to run for office that will be out by the end of January 2024. You can catch them on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @RVA_Votes!

Jessee Perry