“Film has the Oscars. Music has the Grammys. In politics, our biggest night is the Pollies, and [it] is our highest honor.” – 2015 Pollie Award Winner Dean Nielsen, Cerillion N4 Partners
The AAPC Pollie Awards are the most recognized and prestigious awards program for political and public affairs communications professionals, honoring excellence in advertising for candidate campaigns, ballot initiatives, PACs, corporations, and PSAs. The Contest accepts submissions from AAPC members and non-members.
The 2026 Pollie Awards Contest recognizes outstanding work across various mediums:
The 2026 Pollie Awards Contest is divided into three divisions:
Entries and materials submitted will not be returned and may be displayed, shown, duplicated, published, or reproduced for educational or promotional purposes as the AAPC deems appropriate. By entering, the entrant agrees to hold the AAPC and any of its affiliated Chapters exempt from any costs or expenses of any claim arising out of any such use.
The contest opens on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 and closes on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 5:00PM Pacific.
There are three deadlines for the 2026 Pollie Contest:
Fees per entry range are based on AAPC member status and type. Member pricing is only available to current AAPC members. To be eligible for member pricing, your AAPC membership must be current through January 31, 2026. Membership will be verified prior to judging. To join AAPC, click here.
| POLLIE CONTEST | EARLY BIRD ENTRY | REGULAR ENTRY | LATE ENTRY |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAPC Member | $99 | $129 | $179 |
| Student Member* | $25 | $25 | $75 |
| Non-Member | $245 | $275 | $325 |
Entry Submission Specifications
In addition to complying with the AAPC Professional Code of Ethics, all entrants must also agree to AAPC’s Standard on Citations to be considered for Pollie recognition. The Standard on Citations requests that all Television and Direct Mail pieces that criticize an opponent must have a responsible citation in the body of the piece that leads any interested person to find proof of the claim without an excessive burden. Additionally, all other Pollie entries of advertisements and/or political communications shall be fully documented. Please refer to the entry form for the full Standard on Citations.
The entry form for each submission must be completed in its entirety, paid in full, and submitted for judging by the close of the Contest before entries will be judged. It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure the process has been completed, not AAPC’s. If all steps have not been completed by the contest deadline the entry will not be judged and no refunds will be honored.
Anonymity
In order to ensure the integrity of the Contest and judging process, your 2026 Pollie Awards submission(s) CANNOT contain any information about you or your company, firm, or organization. If the AAPC finds any personal or company information in your entry form or uploads, other than in the mandatory fields where company name and winning firm are asked, your entry will be disqualified.
Category Types
There are two different types of categories in the 2026 Pollie Contest, media and non-media categories. For non-media categories, entrants should upload a supporting document for judges to review.
Only Overall Campaign Series Categories (A01-A20) are meant for two or more pieces of media. All other categories only accept one piece of media for review.
Entering Multiple Categories
Entrants may submit the same entry in more than one category to increase their chances of winning. However, each entry will be charged a separate fee.
Trophy Information/Shipping
The firm name submitted – if it is a winning entry – will be the firm listed in all winner publications, press releases and trophies. The firm name and spelling, as well as the entry title, will be printed exactly as submitted. Be sure to proof ALL of your titles, summaries and your firm name. The AAPC is not responsible for replacing any trophies with misinformation printed if that was the information provided in the winning submission.
The address included in the trophy shipment section on the entry form is the address that will be used by our trophy company to ship out trophies (if you are a winner). The AAPC is not responsible for reshipping any trophies that are sent to an incorrect location due to the information the entrant provided on their entry form.
Please Note: trophies cannot be shipped to P.O. Boxes. Please provide AAPC with non-P.O. Box addresses. Also, students must provide the AAPC with home addresses NOT school addresses. Trophies cannot be shipped to University Student Centers, dorms, or off campus apartments or houses.
To be eligible for the 2026 competition, work entered must have been produced, aired, or screened between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, with the exception of the N03 [NEW] Best Unused Idea**. Work previously submitted to the Pollie Awards Contest is not eligible.
Entrants must be directly responsible for the design, creation, or production of their submissions. With the exception of Student Awards, all submissions must be created by professionals on behalf of their clients. Non-professional submissions will not be accepted.
The AAPC reserves the right to move entries to more appropriate categories if necessary. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards may or may not be awarded in each category at the sole discretion of the judges.
Pollie Awards entry fees are non-refundable and any material submitted is not returnable. Failure to comply with entry requirements will result in disqualification of your entry. Entries that have not been paid in full by the deadline may be disqualified.
By entering the AAPC Pollie Contest you authorize the AAPC to use your submission in any other promotional materials and to reproduce those materials or images as may be required.
**N03 [NEW] Best Unused Idea is for a classic political advertising piece from any year, provided it has not made it to air and has not previously won a Pollie.
The AAPC’s judging process is designed to ensure the fairest and most rigorous evaluation of every entrant’s work. Each entry is assessed on three key criteria: political effectiveness, creativity, and execution.
The Pollie Contest is judged online by panels of experienced professionals, including political consultants, public affairs practitioners, academics, political analysts, advertising experts, and media leaders. Judges are carefully assigned to ensure balanced expertise across categories and are recused from evaluating any entries connected to their own firm or clients.
Each submission is reviewed blind, with identifying information removed to preserve impartiality. Awards are determined by overall performance within each category, and recognition is reserved for work that demonstrates excellence as determined by the judging panel.
Learn about becoming a judge here.
Entries Submitted Online: accepted formats for submission are listed on the online entry form and in the Technical Guidelines section below.
You can go back and view all of the entries you have submitted by clicking on “My Applications” and then finding the entry you would like to view under “Complete” entries and clicking on “View.” You cannot make changes to the entries you have already submitted.
Incomplete Entries
If you have not yet submitted the entry you would like to view, look under the “Incomplete” entries section, find the entry you would like to view, and click on “Edit” under the “Actions” tab. If the entry is not there, you may have completed and not yet paid for it. If this is the case, look under the “In Cart” section. If the entry is there and you would like to submit it, click on “In Cart” on the left side of the screen and pay for your entry. If you would like to continue to edit your entry, click on “Remove from Cart” under the “Actions” tab.
Duplicate Entries
The same entry may be entered in multiple categories as long as it meets eligibility requirements. An entry fee will be applied to each entry and each entry must be submitted individually to the appropriate categories.
If you would like to duplicate an existing entry to submit in a different category, follow the steps below:
Delete an Entry
To edit an entry, click on “My Applications” to the left of the screen and find the entry you would like to make changes to. Then click on “Edit” under the “Actions” tab and you can make your changes. Make sure to save your entry every time you make changes to it. If you have already submitted an entry, you can no longer make changes to it.
To delete an entry, click on “My Applications” to the left of the screen and find the entry you would like to delete. Then click on “Remove” under the “Actions” tab and click “OK” when you are asked if you are sure you would like to delete the entry. If you have already submitted an entry, you cannot delete it.
Technical Guidelines for File Uploads
Entries must use the following specifications. No other file formats will be allowed.
Accepted file formats:
| Images: | JPG/JPEG – Web safe RBG format only |
|---|---|
| Documents: | PDF, DOC |
| Audio: | MP3, WAV, WMA, AU |
| Video: | MPEG/MPG – plays in WMP and QuickTime players MOV– plays in only QuickTime players, but is a popular, easy format SWF– plays in only Flash player, but is a popular, powerful and rich format WMV– plays only in WMP players (Windows Media Player) URL |
Non-English Entries
If your entry is not in English, you MUST provide a translation or detailed synopsis in the space provided on the online entry form.
Radio: Translations to be uploaded in a PDF document.
TV: Translations should be included. Subtitles should be clearly legible.
Websites: Translate only relevant menu selections, headlines, and text.
Students may submit actual campaign work including campaigns for student government, as well as academic work done in conjunction with an applied politics course or at a campaign school. Work submitted must have been completed between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. The Student Pollie Awards are a great opportunity for tomorrow’s campaign professionals to present their best work for national recognition, and launch their career.
Group work is limited to groups no greater than 4 and one award will be given with the option for others in the group to purchase additional Pollie trophies. If group work is submitted, a project manager from the group must be designated. The project manager should also be the contact name on the entry.
Student entries will be judged with the same criteria and by the same judges as the 2026 Pollie Contest. Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards may be awarded in order from highest score to third place in each category at the sole discretion of the judges.
AAPC Student Members and Student Non-Members can submit entries to the Student Awards, but the $25 entry price per Student submission is reserved for AAPC Student Members only. This price is only accepted for the Student Pollie categories – if an AAPC Student Member wishes to enter the main Pollie Contest it is subject to prevailing entry fees. Student Non-Members must pay the Non-Member price of $300 per entry or join AAPC as a Student Member for $60 to receive member pricing.
*IMPORTANT: The address provided in the winning submissions is where the trophies will be sent. DO NOT provide the AAPC with a school address or an apartment address where you will no longer be living after the school year. Trophies will be shipped at the conclusion of the 2026 Pollie Awards & Conference.
Direct Mail & Collateral Submissions
AAPC does not require hard copies for direct mail and collateral entries. Rather, entrants must upload electronic copies of each collateral/direct mail piece to accompany each entry.
AAPC will contact you if you are selected as a 2026 Pollie Award winner, but will keep your winning entry and award level confidential until the 2026 Pollie Awards Ceremony.