Figure out what people in the jurisdiction you are seeking to represent care about.
Meld those two things together: that is the basic pitch for your candidacy.
Crudely there are five things you will need to deal with: process. money, message, organization, voters.
First, process: what do you have to legally do to get elected? For most offices it is (i) get on a primary ballot by collecting signatures or paying a fee; (ii) win a primary; (iii) win a general election.
Second, how many people and how large an area does the office you are running for represent? This will determine how you get your message out, how much money you need and how large and professional and organization you need to create. If you are running for Governor of California you will need to advertise widely, spend $10s of millions and have a team of dozens on staff. If you are running for village trustee in a 500 person village you may spend a couple hundred dollars and talk to each voter multiple times.
The answer to most of your questions is contingent on the answer to the question above.
There are (in general) no political party grants for less funded campaigns in primaries; in general elections you may get some party support depending on how competitive the election is, where it is and how good a chance you have of winning. Certain jurisdictions have campaign finance programs which match small donations on a more than one to one basis, which makes fundraising easier.
The earlier you start campaigning the better, so you should start as soon as you know you want to run; but keep in mind that campaigning for an election two years in the future and campaigning for an election tomorrow are very different activities.
Determine why you want to run.
Figure out what people in the jurisdiction you are seeking to represent care about.
Meld those two things together: that is the basic pitch for your candidacy.
Crudely there are five things you will need to deal with: process. money, message, organization, voters.
First, process: what do you have to legally do to get elected? For most offices it is (i) get on a primary ballot by collecting signatures or paying a fee; (ii) win a primary; (iii) win a general election.
Second, how many people and how large an area does the office you are running for represent? This will determine how you get your message out, how much money you need and how large and professional and organization you need to create. If you are running for Governor of California you will need to advertise widely, spend $10s of millions and have a team of dozens on staff. If you are running for village trustee in a 500 person village you may spend a couple hundred dollars and talk to each voter multiple times.
The answer to most of your questions is contingent on the answer to the question above.
There are (in general) no political party grants for less funded campaigns in primaries; in general elections you may get some party support depending on how competitive the election is, where it is and how good a chance you have of winning. Certain jurisdictions have campaign finance programs which match small donations on a more than one to one basis, which makes fundraising easier.
The earlier you start campaigning the better, so you should start as soon as you know you want to run; but keep in mind that campaigning for an election two years in the future and campaigning for an election tomorrow are very different activities.