Political campaigns are working harder than ever to have the public’s ears for as long as possible, if not all year round. The non-stop political noise can get to be a bit too much and even drive some possible voters away from keeping up with who is running altogether.

In 2013 The New York Times reported 

that in order to win a seat in the House a politician will spend an average of $1.6 million and to win in the Senate the average campaign costs reach $10.4 million. That’s a formidable amount of money all directed at not only capturing, but keeping your attention long enough to see you to the polls.

It is unlikely that Americans will be seeing a change in the inundation of campaign noise in the coming years. However, it is important that the public not get discouraged by so much political chatter to the point that they stop paying attention entirely.

Currently, both Tom Harkin and Tom Latham have announced that they will not be seeking reelection at the end of their terms in the U.S. Congress. Here in Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad has announced that he will run once again for reelection, setting him up to possibly become the longest-serving governor in American history. The elections for these positions will come on Nov. 4, 2014 and a wide range of candidates have thrown in their names for the coveted positions.

Now is the time that Iowan’s should give these candidates the most attention. As candidates first put up their name, they are focused on educating the public on themselves, not yet as focused on smearing the other candidates or the usual political sound bytes as their own parties are still choosing who to back.

Campaigns in Iowa will be getting louder and harder to ignore as the months tick by, but informing yourself early and keeping up with the full range of possible candidates will make it easier to wade through all of the information later. Not only that, but you will be able to hear from a larger pool of candidates, not just the frontrunners who make it to election night without dropping out of the race. Many candidates have already begun to make stops in cities and towns around the state, offering constituents an easy way to ask them questions and start to understand their platforms.

The easiest way to get started, and to keep up with the candidates throwing their hats into the race, is to navigate the Democratic and Republican party websites that keep a list of candidates in their party. However, don’t forget that there can also be candidates outside of the two major parties, and some candidates that might not be backed by their party. Staying aware and open to all candidates will help you make your most informed choice on election day.

As much as you might want to tune out all of the campaign noise, it’s better to simply start listening earlier instead of trying to make an informed decision at the end of the race. By this point, you will be working with a very narrow view of the candidates as a whole and it can be more difficult to wade through the campaign noise to reach the information that matters most to you.