The author, John Marek, is executive director of the Anson Economic Development Partnership.
Back in the early 2000s, I thought I might be interested in running for political office. Luckily, the affliction passed before I ever affixed my name to a ballot, but in the moment I was serious enough about it to devote a whole Saturday to attending something called the Lake Norman Institute for Political Leadership.
The institute was an offshoot of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce and it served two purposes: instructing individuals on the nuts and bolts of running for office, and providing the chamber president, who saw himself as something of a “king-maker,” a chance to handpick the candidates he wanted to support and to nip in the bud the candidacies of those he opposed.
The program was led by a consultant from Raleigh who, as I recall, had some affiliation with the UNC School of Government. The content was straightforward, consisting of both technical aspects like how to register, how to collect signatures, how to set up a fundraising committee, etc., as well as campaigning and marketing yourself.
A fair amount of the marketing presentation was devoted to the importance of campaign signs. The consultant stated unequivocally that the most accurate predictor of local elections is the ubiquity of signage. Not only does the candidate with the most signs generally win the election, but the number of signs is directly proportionate to the number of votes two-thirds of the time.
There is some debate about the cause versus the effect of campaign signage. It’s probably not as simple as, “print up a bunch of signs and you’ll win.” Popular candidates – the ones who will garner the most votes – have the most opportunities to place their signs in the yards of supporters and the financial contributions to purchase the most signs. Still, it’s slightly disconcerting to think, given the important issues facing communities, that voters could be swayed by an especially attractive yard sign.
And to that point, what makes for a good political sign? According to the consultant, color-wise, some combination of red, white and blue is the patriotic (and popular) choice, although in a campaign with multiple red, white and blue signs, other colors can help a candidate stick out. Black conveys power and authority and is easy to see from the road, but by itself is a bit bland. Green is a symbol of the natural world; candidates who want to connect themselves with environmental issues often choose this color. Yellow is a bright and cheerful color that when paired with a dark and contrasting color, works well. Purple conveys wisdom but also royalty, and depending on the shade can be difficult to see against some contrasting colors. Same with brown, another earthen color that makes people think about the environment. Orange conveys excitement, warmth, and is an attention getter.
The font itself generally doesn’t matter, so long as it is legible. That means candidates should avoid thin or script typefaces. Each individual letter should be easily distinguishable from a distance. Photos, clipart (can you even run for judge without putting a gavel on your sign?) and the like should be used sparingly, if at all. Replacing letters of your name with stars, checkmarks, arrows or apples is an advanced technique best left to the professionals.
If a good sign can boost a campaign, can a bad sign sink it? In Huntersville a few years ago, a popular town councilman ran for mayor. He produced perfectly fine blue and white signs which featured his last name above the words “For Mayor.” He lost the election narrowly to the incumbent and ran to get his council seat back two years later. Since there were two seats open in that cycle, it was largely a foregone conclusion that he would be returned to the council. Apparently, he took it for granted, too, since instead of investing in new signs, he simply cut the “For Mayor” off the bottom and placed the obviously and poorly doctored signs around town. He lost. Badly. Draw your own conclusions.
So what say you? Is there a candidate’s sign this election cycle that sticks out to you?