The Leadership Institute and the Project for California’s Future will bring their extensive Campaign and Candidate Training Program to Central Valley conservative candidates, potential candidates, leaders and activists with a five month program that kicks off in 60 days.
Winning in California’s challenging political environment demands more than just having the best ideas — it takes a candidate, and a team, well schooled in the arts of campaign communication and organization.
The Campaign and Candidate Training Program will run for five months — one Saturday each month from June to October — in Modesto, making it convenient for conservative candidates, campaign staff and activists from Stanislaus, San Joaquin and the surrounding counties. This part of the Central Valley is a critical swing region of the state, and one that is a must-win for conservatives to advance in California.
Each session focuses on a key area of waging a modern campaign: Strategy, Communications, Winning the Invisible Primaries, Fundraising, and wrapping up with Voter Contact.
The first session, focused on Strategy, helps conservatives map out the path to victory based on sound research. Well chosen strategies provide the roadmap for selecting the tactics best suited for the district and a framework for choosing the most effective voter contact methods. New research in voter behavior informs the second session, focused on Communications and starting with an understanding of how voters judge and choose, then developing persuasive messages based on this research. The third session focuses on winning the “invisible primaries” during which candidates must establish and build personal and issue credibility, build a support base, and garner endorsements from local opinion leaders. Fundraising dominates the fourth session, with training on various fundraising methods ranging from direct mail and online fundraising to personal solicitation and donor clubs. Finally, the fifth session provides extensive training in all forms of voter contact: mail, television, digital, in person, phones, and more.
It’s a very comprehensive program. In 2013, we conducted it in San Diego and a new class of conservative leaders is being trained up in the 2015 program, currently under way. The Leadership Institute is the national leader in training conservatives in how to win. Since 1979, LI has trained 162,712 students. There are 30 Leadership Institute graduates currently serving in the U.S. Congress, 15 hold statewide office, and 421 are in state legislatures.
The Central Valley program kicks off on Saturday, June 6. The $350 tuition covers all five in person sessions, plus additional webinars on specialized topics. For more information on the program, or to register, visit the Leadership Institute’s registration page for the Campaign and Candidate Training Program in the Central Valley.
Ron Nehring served as Chairman of the California Republican Party from 2007 to 2011, and was the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor in 2014.