New political parties face considerable challenges upon their emergence: they must simultaneously mobilize voters and recruit candidates, all without the established mechanisms—such as party brands, retrospective voting, or party loyalty—that connect voters to mainstream parties. In this context, recruiting high-quality candidates becomes crucial, as these individuals serve as the party’s representatives within their local communities (Favero & Zulianello, 2023; Horne, 2022). While previous research identifies education as a key indicator of candidate quality (Art, 2011; Loxbo & Bolin, 2016), I argue that new parties lacking access to highly educated recruits can still effectively mobilize voters by prioritizing candidates with strong local ties. To test this hypothesis, I examine the case of Germany, comparing two successful new parties (the Greens and the AfD) with two less successful ones (the ÖDP and the Republicans). Using unique data on the birthplaces and places of residence of all candidates in federal elections from 1980 to 2021, as well as data on over 200,000 local candidates from the 1980s and 2010s, I link candidate characteristics to their personalized votes. My findings contribute to the literature on party organization, the rise of new political parties, and the electoral impact of candidate attributes.