Camp Carnahan St. Louis Region Signup

Deadline to Sign Up is Tuesday, July 1st at 5pm! 

Thank you for your interest in the upcoming Camp Carnahan Campaign Training to be held on July 12-13, 2025 in the St. Louis Region. We will review all applications and send out rolling confirmation emails to campers beginning Tuesday, July 1, 2025 to confirm your attendance. You may pay the required $35 registration fee online anytime before the start of camp on July 12, or you may pay at the door upon arrival.   

If you have any questions, please contact campcarnahan2025@gmail.com

Come Join Us at the Camp Carnahan Campaign Training Program

Educate-Organize-Win!

Please join the Missouri Democratic Party at Camp Carnahan to help you develop the necessary skills to win elections this fall. Camp Carnahan is perfect for you if you are looking to get your start in Democratic politics as a campaign professional, run for office yourself or if you are looking to win on an issue, such as the upcoming abortion rights ballot initiative. 

In 1997, we created the first in a series of regional Camp Carnahan training programs, which trained over 800 participants in the fundamentals of winning elections. Coming this July 2025, led by Chairman Russ Carnahan, the Missouri Democratic Party will return to training with the goal to Educate, Organize and Win elections. We are excited about this training and camp that will be held July 12 & 13, 2025 in the St. Louis region.

Camp Schedule

• Monday, July 7 - Confirmation email for Camp Carnahan sent to applicants
• Saturday, July 12 at 9:00am - Camp opens with participant registration and will conclude at 5:30pm.
• Sunday, July 13 - Camp opens at 9:30am and concludes at 4:00pm.

Camp Carnahan will provide meals, a workbook pdf, instruction from some of the nation's premier Democratic political consultants, interactions with Democratic elected officials, and an invitation to join our job bank.

WHAT IS CAMP CARNAHAN?

Camp Carnahan will conduct 3 specialized tracks of training. Each track will consist of 9 lectures and up to 5 simulation exercises. Campers will choose their tracks and be divided into teams. Throughout the weekend we will have competitions and the winning teams will be awarded prizes at the end of the camp on Sunday.

Camp Carnahan Tracks include:

• Track 1: How to be a Better Candidate
• Track 2: Introduction to Campaign Management for Future Paid Professionals
• Track 3: Issue Advocacy and Organizing

CANDIDATE TRAINING TRACK

The Candidate Training track will be an introduction to and preparation for a run at elected office. We encourage everyone thinking about running for office in 2025 to attend this training. Participants in the Candidate Training program will have the opportunity to be mentored by elected officials and some of the top political consultants in the country.

ISSUE ADVOCACY AND ORGANIZING TRACK

This track introduces the strategies and tactics necessary for building a successful issue advocacy campaign or program. It helps individuals develop the skills to create and carry out successful issue campaigns including message development, community outreach, working with volunteers, grassroots lobbying, leadership development and building effective coalitions. Attendees will sharpen their grassroots organizing abilities and learn about building a sustaining effective issues advocacy effort.

CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT TRACK

The Campaign Management track will be an introduction to the fundamentals of political campaigns. You will learn the basics of fundraising, field organizing, press relations, advance, volunteer coordination, GOTV, targeting, candidate relations and modern technology. Attendees will be divided up into teams and will be responsible for writing and presenting various campaign exercises during this intensive two-day program.