Campaign Workers

The Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and Libertarians are the members of four of the political parties in the United States that employ campaign workers. While the functions of campaign workers in each party are fairly similar, the organizations and philosophies of these four parties differ. The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States and one of the oldest political parties in the world. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) oversees party activities. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) support candidates for election to their respective Houses of Congress. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) coordinates the activities of the Democratic state governors. The College Democrats of America (CDA) and the Young Democrats of America (YDA) organize and train younger members of the party. The Republican Party, founded in 1854 by antislavery northerners, is today considered the more conservative of the two major political parties. It is organized along similar lines as the Democratic Party, with the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC); the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC); and the Republican Governors Association (RGA). The Republican Party's affiliates for younger Republicans are Young Republicans, College Republicans, and Teenage Republicans. The Republican and Democratic parties also have state party affiliates in each state that train and employ campaign workers for statewide political campaigns.

The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) was founded in 1991. Its forerunner organization, the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) first came to wide public attention when Ralph Nader ran for president in 1996 and 2000. As of July 2024, there are at least 141 Green Party members holding elected office in the United States, all of which hold office at the municipal or county levels of government. In 2006 and again in 2010, the Green Party achieved its most notable success on the local level with the election and re-election of Gayle McLaughlin as mayor of the city of Richmond, California.

The Libertarian Party was created in December 1971 and is America's third largest political party. Libertarians are dedicated to preserving a free-market economy with very limited government regulation, upholding civil liberties and personal freedoms, and maintaining a foreign policy of non-intervention, limited foreign security and defense commitments to other countries, and free trade. In 2012, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, former Governor Gary Johnson, received nearly 1.3 million votes for president, a party historical record. In 2024, there were 177 libertarians nationwide holding offices.