You will be able to do campaign actions five times in total between the start of August and end of October. Use them wisely.
Whenever a campaigning action is taken, you need to wait three turns until you can perform another one. You need to spread it out a little to keep reminding the voters who they should vote for.
Campaigning options
A list of all the actions you can have your pawn perform during the campaigning phase (August-October) leading up to an election, in order of cost.
Note that all of them – except an expensive one – have some kind of requirement to be available to you, so you may need to plan ahead.
“Effect” refers to the min/max number of % points you can gain from each option.
| Cost | Dialogue option/campaigning action | Requirements | Min% Effect | Max% effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Favor | “Could you spread the word about this new politician I’m supporting?” | Use the Favor option when speaking to a business | +0.2 | +0.6 |
| 1 Favor | “Think you could convince the businesses around here to show some support for my buddy who’s running a campaign right now? I figure you could remind ‘em that whatever’s good for me is good for them too.” | Use the Favor option when speaking to a front. (Seems to count as a campaign action, so always do an actual campaign action first.) | +1 | +3 |
| -$0 | “How about you join me at our next civic club meeting to address our local countrymen?” | Same ethnicity as you | +6 | +8 |
| -$0 | “Our local civic club is holding a parade to celebrate our heritage. Join me on my float and we can meet a lot of voters.” | Same ethnicity as you | +4 | +6 |
| -$0 | “You know how things work at City Hall. Why don’t you get some friends to support some new laws and subsidies to help out the neighborhood? Voters will be appreciative. | Must be Insider; must be incumbent | +6 | +8 |
| -$0 | “Why don’t you hijack the next session of city council and make a speech? There will be cameras and reporters there.” | Must be incumbent | +3 | +4 |
| -$250 | “I’ve got a connection to print some political buttons. They’re the bees knees. Very modern and will definitely increase interest in the campaign.” | Skill: Political Button Manufacture (You gain the skill when you have 12 influence in your possession.) | +2 | +2 |
| -$1000 | “Got an invite to a charity dinner. So how about you break out the good threads and join me? I’m sure I can arrange for you to speak.” | Must be Candidate of the People, Legalist, or Orator | +4 | +6 |
| -$1200 | “Let’s get a float in the neighborhood’s summer parade. I’m sure there will be a lot of voters lining the streets.” | Same ethnicity as you; must be Naive, Orator or Wallflower. | +5 | +7 |
| -$1500 | “I’m thinking it’s time to run some print ads on behalf of the campaign. I know we only get one shot per campaign, so let’s make it count!” | Law enacted: Newspaper Advertising (The law is enacted for free when you have 10 influence in your possession.) | +4 | +6 |
| -$2000 | “Let’s hire a few private detectives to dig about for some dirt on rivals. Then we can hold a press conference to denounce their bad behavior.” | Must be Ruthless, Corrupt or Insider | +5 | +6 |
| -$2500 | “I know you only get one radio campaign in each election cycle. So how about you make it for my campaign?” | Law enacted: Radio Advertising (The law is enacted for free when you have 50 influence in your possession.) | +7 | +10 |
| -$6000 | “I’ve been thinking, this campaign would really benefit from getting your name out there a little bit more. What do you say we hold a big rally, make sure you’re on everyone’s minds?” | n/a | +5 | +8 |
| -$8000 | “You’re a great speaker. How about we rent a hall, get some good food and invite the press for a stirring bout of oratory to boose the campaign?” | Must be Orator or Candidate of the People | +6 | +10 |
NPC campaigning actions
Surprise! The politicians can go do some campaigning as well, which is handled entirely by the game AI itself and nothing you seem to be able to influence, but it doesn’t seem to effect your ability to select actions manually.
Unlike the actions you can take as a player, you can encounter NPC actions that give you a negative effect on your voter percentages. Some of them seem to be listed with the min/max effect the wrong way around (like a min of -8 and a max of -1), and I don’t know if that’s a mistake on the devs’ part or intentional.
Large actions (L) have small chance of happening, and a cooldown of 3 weeks if they do. Small actions (S) have a slightly bigger chance of happening, and has a cooldown of 2 weeks.
| Cost | NPC campaigning action | Requirements | Min% Effect | Max% Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +$100001 | Donation drive (L) | n/a | ∓0 | +0.5 |
| -$0 | Donor scandal (L) | Must be Corrupt, Candidate of the People or Ruthless | -8 | -1 |
| -$0 | Good press (S) | n/a | +2 | +3 |
| -$0 | Major gaffe (L) | Must be Abrasive or Ruthless | -6 | -10 |
| -$0 | Press pickup (L) | Must be Orator or Candidate of the People | +5 | +10 |
| -$500 | Business dinner (S) | n/a | +1 | +1.5 |
| -$500 | Coffee shop (S) | Must be Naive or Candidate of the People | +1 | +2 |
| -$500 | Flubbed lines (S) | Must be Abrasive or Wallflower | -1 | -2 |
| -$1000 | Donor meeting (S) | n/a | ∓0 | +0.2 |
| -$2500 | Major endorsement (L) | Must be Insider | +4 | +8 |
| -$5000 | Campaign rally (L) | n/a | +5 | +8 |
| -$10000 | Voter intimidation (L) | Must be Corrupt or Candidate of the People | +10 | +15 |
| -$20000 | Ethics hearing (L) | Must be Corrupt, Insider or Ruthless | -2 | -4 |
| -$20000 | Family problems (L) | Must be Corrupt, Insider or Ruthless | -12 | -4 |
- A donation drive adds $10k to the campaign war chest. ↩︎