Becoming a Candidate

You become a candidate by either:

• publicly announcing your candidacy for City elective office OR

• filing nominating petitions or papers with the City Commissioners,

whichever happens first.

Note: The State Election Code uses a broader definition of "candidate" than the City's Campaign Finance Law. As a result, you may be a candidate under State law (and therefore subject to State reporting requirements) even if you are not yet considered a candidate under City law. For guidance on the State Election Code, please contact the City Commissioners or the PA Department of State.

Within three days of becoming a candidate for City elective office, you must submit a Candidate Information Form to the Board of Ethics. This form includes basic information about the candidate, office sought, and any political committee established to handle campaign business.

Yes. You can use the same candidate committee from a previous election, but you must file a new Candidate Information Form for each election, even if none of the other information has changed.

Yes. While we do not recommend operating a campaign without a campaign committee, if you chose to proceed this way you must still file a Candidate Information Form with the Board of Ethics.