This guide turns that into eight steps, from finding out who your committeepersons are to keeping track of every commitment through petition season and the primary. It is written for candidates in partisan races, where committeepersons sit at the center of the party organization. Candidates in nonpartisan races, such as school board, will find a short note on that near the end.
For the bigger picture of keeping campaign relationships organized, see our guide to a political campaign CRM.
Step 1: Find out who your committeepersons are
Start with the structure.
- Outside Cook County, each party's primary voters elect one precinct committeeperson per precinct, every two years (10 ILCS 5/7-8(b)). A district of any size will have many of them.
- In Cook County, voters elect a ward committeeperson in each Chicago ward and a township committeeperson in each suburban township, every four years. Precinct captains in Cook are volunteers organized by the ward or township organization, not elected officials.
The fastest way to a current list is your county party, or your ward or township organization in Cook. Your county clerk or election authority can also tell you who was elected at the last general primary, which was March 17, 2026. Expect some gaps: some precincts have no committeeperson, and a seat becomes vacant as soon as its holder moves out of the precinct (10 ILCS 5/7-8(b)).
Step 2: Understand who carries weight
Committeepersons do not carry equal weight on the county central committee. Each precinct committeeperson has "one vote for each ballot voted in his precinct by the primary electors of his party at the primary at which he was elected" (10 ILCS 5/7-8(d)). Ward and township committeepersons vote by the ballots cast in their ward or township at the preceding General Assembly primary.
In practice, a committeeperson from a precinct with strong party primary turnout carries more weight than one from a precinct where few people voted. Ask your county party for each precinct's party primary ballot count, or how they would suggest prioritizing. Then sort your list.
Weight is not the only reason to meet someone. A committeeperson in a small precinct may be the best petition circulator in the township, or the person every other committeeperson calls for advice. But weight tells you where to start.
Step 3: Learn how the organization works before you ask for anything
Every county, township and ward organization has its own customs. Before your first meeting, ask the county party:
- Does the organization slate candidates for your office, and when? (Our explainer on how local parties slate candidates covers how slating usually works.)
- Are there regular meetings, dinners or events where committeepersons gather?
- Is there anyone the organization would like you to meet first?
- Are there expectations for candidates who want the organization's help?
Showing up already knowing the answers earns respect. Asking a committeeperson to explain the basics of their own organization does not.
Step 4: Set up one record per committeeperson
Before the meetings start, decide where the notes will go. This is the step that determines whether your follow-up holds together.
Create one contact record for every committeeperson on your list. In CoreCNX, each person gets a single record with a timeline that door results, text replies, chatbot leads and email events write to. Add each committeeperson as a contact, so your whole district's list lives in one place instead of on scattered phones and spreadsheets. Then, as the campaign runs, the history builds on its own: the follow-up email you sent after coffee, their text reply about petition sheets, and the door results from the Saturday you walked their precinct together all land on the same record.
When slating approaches or petition season opens, you can open any committeeperson's record and see the whole relationship in one place instead of reconstructing it from your phone, your inbox and a notebook. The rest of the CNX suite is designed to feed that record: Beacon (beaconcnx.com) for the doors and CampaignCNX+ (campaigncnx.com) for two-way texting with people who have agreed to receive texts.
Step 5: Ask for a short first meeting
Keep the first ask small: 20 or 30 minutes, at a time and place convenient to them. A phone call is fine if they prefer it. Introduce yourself plainly, say which office you are running for, and say you would like to hear what matters in their precinct.
A simple email or voicemail:
"Hi, I am [name], and I am running for [office]. You represent [precinct] and I would value 20 minutes to hear what your neighbors care about. Could I buy you a coffee next week, wherever is easy for you?"
Do not lead with a request for their support. The first meeting is for listening.
Step 6: Listen first, then make one clear ask
At the meeting, let them talk about their precinct. What are people worried about? Which streets turn out? What did the last candidate who came through get wrong? Write it down afterward, in their words.
Then make one specific ask, matched to what they can actually do:
- Circulating petition sheets. A circulator may circulate for more than one candidate for the same office if the candidates are of the same established party, but may not circulate for more than one established party (10 ILCS 5/10-4; 2027 Candidate's Guide). The circulator must personally witness every signature and sign a notarized circulator statement, and every Illinois candidate petition is signed in ink on the official form. If they agree, settle how many sheets and by when.
- An introduction. To a neighbor, a local group or another committeeperson.
- A walk. An hour walking their precinct together, so they can introduce you at the doors.
- Their view on slating. If the organization slates, ask what they look for.
One clear ask is easier to say yes to than a list.
Step 7: Follow up exactly when you said you would
The day after the meeting, send a short thank-you that repeats what you agreed. If they offered to carry petition sheets, deliver the sheets with the heading already filled in (the heading must be completed before a sheet is circulated and must be the same on every sheet). If they offered an introduction, ask for it within the week. If you promised to look into an issue, report back.
Send that thank-you by email so it lands on the committeeperson's record, with what you promised, what they promised and the next date in writing. That written trail keeps you honest when you are juggling forty of these relationships.
Step 8: Keep the relationship going through the primary
Committeepersons see a lot of candidates in the months before a primary. The ones they back are usually the ones who stayed in touch without being a nuisance. A reasonable rhythm:
- A short update when something real happens: you filed, you were slated, you hit your signature goal.
- A thank-you after any help, specific to what they did.
- An offer to walk their precinct again before the primary.
- A thank-you after the election, win or lose.
Keep a simple status for each one: met, interested, committed, circulating, or not supporting. That simple status, next to their weight from Step 2, shows you where the remaining time should go.
A note for nonpartisan races
School board candidates run on a nonpartisan basis, with no party label on the ballot, and do not go through party slating. Committeepersons can still be useful people to know as community members who know their precincts well. Approach them as neighbors and local leaders, not as gatekeepers to a party's support, and keep the same habit of one record per person.
A short checklist
- Get the committeeperson list from your county party.
- Sort by weight, using party primary ballot counts.
- Learn the organization's slating process and customs.
- Set up one record per committeeperson before the first meeting.
- Ask for 20 to 30 minutes and listen first.
- Make one specific ask.
- Follow up the next day, in writing, repeating what was agreed.
- Stay in touch through the primary without overdoing it.
Our post on why candidates court committeepersons covers the reasons behind each step in more depth. You can see how CoreCNX fits a campaign on our political page.
Keep every commitment in one place
Forty conversations are easy to start and hard to keep straight. Try CoreCNX free for 14 days and give every committeeperson in your district a record that remembers what you promised.