No. I am not saying "anyone can run and win in local elections"... barring the really fucked scenarios where there is literally a single person running.

But if you coordinate with one of the local parties? You would be shocked how easy it is to get those signatures. Because, for even a medium sized city, it actually doesn't take THAT much money to run a campaign. And many local orgs will have their own team of volunteer phone bankers and people willing to go door to door. Or... there aren't even that many candidates and they spend more time convincing someone to run for comptroller than actually convincing people to vote for said comptroller.

The key is that you have to actually get involved. You can't just show up on election day and say "Fuck you, vote for me because I am against dark money". You show up for meetings. You get on the zoom calls that actually discuss policy and strategy (and realize how wild it is to literally be asking a future POTUS questions and grilling them on things behind doors that don't come up on CNN) and so forth. And no, you don't need to become a massive big wig for that. Calls to the regional offices are actually pretty common because... those regional offices are what put us in a position where a congress person or POTUS can even do anything in the first place.

If all you want is accelerationism because call of duty taught you that you'll end up on top? We... might already be there. But don't get pissy if other people are actually trying to do what the republicans literally fucking did to take over this country and put us in this mess in the first place.

"over 100 people usually run for every position"

Are you out your mind‽‽‽

Around here, and in a LOT of places, there isn't even a challenger on the ballot!