When you're running on your own against incumbents who've been in office for years (decades sometimes) you've really gotta work hard and build up the kind of contact data the big campaigns have easy access too. For example, I had trouble asking for people's phone numbers so I could call them (or robocall them) on election day - that was my own weakness, I bet someone with more sales skills could have done a better job there but I'm just an engineer. I had no e-mail addresses either. I should have also visited the retirement homes in town, I only went door to door. The churches never returned my calls but I did try to visit them. Lots of factors - I'm sure my South Asian name also lost me some votes but hey, I bet I can get past that next time.