(WSIL) -- A string of text messages to thousands of Illinoisans from the Democratic Party those texts ask the recipient to run for office.
The messages are real and if you received a text like this it's likely because you've registered as a democrat.
News 3 asked Illinois Democrat County Chair Association Executive Director Dan Kovacs about the new strategy.
"The text messages themselves are not scams. We are genuinely interested and looking to talk to folks who are interested in running for office. If they are interested they should respond positively and we will get them connected with their local county party and get them on the ballot for November." said Dan Kovats.
The text messages are targeting people in rural areas to run for down ballot positions like county board where many races don't have a democrat to run against republicans.
Kovat says this is the first time the strategy has been used in Illinois but it has worked in states liked Georgia and Michigan.
And for the reason you may have seen one of these messages in your inbox...
"Targeting is based on the voter registration file statewide. We use a system within our network to target those individuals who are likely democrats," said Kovats.
If you want to run you have until March to decide if you want to file.
