It's also good for your candidate psyche. You can't meet all the voters, and you will have to pay for voter mailings. It's the only way to really get your message out. They only care about what they think is the news. You, the firsttime candidate, won't sell newspapers until you are elected and you are an incumbent.
Incumbents are always news.
New candidates or non-incumbents have to go out and make news, and pay for exposure. Don't expect it for free. Don't expect the media to be your friend. But they have made friends on the board, and their friends usually are the incumbents. The County must certify that I filled this out, and they tear off the bottom portion that is submitted with the petitions.