ABSTRACT
Gay men and lesbians need to be elected to all levels of government—federal, state, city, and school—but the fact is most gay people will not be running for high-profile seats such as mayor or state assembly. One consequence of running a campaign with limited resources is that there is not enough money to hire a campaign consulting firm or a full-time manager. If the campaign strategy calls for the use of volunteers, candidates need to assess if they can get four or five people a night, six times a week, for three or four months. States and most cities have laws governing campaign financing and reporting. Missing filing deadlines or filling out the reports incorrectly can create unnecessary bad press and may result in fines, even when errors were unintentional and innocent.
