How to Write a Letter to Endorse a Political Candidate

Letters of endorsement allow political candidates to showcase the support of influential community leaders and corporations, which can lend tremendous credibility to a campaign. By pairing your influence with the influence of the candidate, you can help increase the candidate’s supporting votes and help ensure that the issues you care about will be supported after the election. Letters of endorsement can be sent to specific individuals or organizations or can be sent to newspapers as letters to the editor. Sending a copy directly to the candidate allows the candidate to use that endorsement in additional publicity materials.

Provide your name and mailing address on the top two lines of the page. Write the date on the line beneath your address. Skip two lines. Skip the name and address if you are printing the letter on official letterhead.

Include the name and address of the person you are sending the letter to. Skip two steps. If this is an open letter without a specific recipient, skip this step.

Use a generic opening, such as “Dear (recipient’s name):” or “To whom it may concern:”. Skip two lines.

Get straight to the point in the first sentence of the letter. Identify yourself as an individual or a company. Include the candidate’s name, party affiliation, district and the position that you are endorsing her for. Skip a line.

Briefly describe the candidate’s relevant political history and qualifications. Describe any non-political activities, experience or qualities as well. Connect her experience to the voters to prove that she will represent them well. Skip a line between each paragraph.

Explain the viewpoints of the candidate, and highlight the issues you agree on. Use short, direct quotes from the candidate if applicable. Review a history of her support for these issues. Skip a line between each paragraph.

Conclude the letter by reiterating the endorsement. Skip two lines.

End the letter by writing “Sincerely,” and skipping four lines. Print your name, title and contact information.

Review the letter, and remove any superfluous or unsupported adjectives and statements. For example, do not say that a candidate is “honest” unless you have included evidence.

Print the letter, and sign in the space between “Sincerely” and the printed name and contact information.