For many decades, women have played a secondary role in Moroccan political life. They were largely under-represented in institutions such as labour unions and political parties, and were almost absent from the parliament and local councils. The situation changed noticeably after the legislative elections in 2002: a quota system was introduced right before the polls, which led to a substantial increase in the number of female members of parliament. At the local level, however, women remained absent from most elected councils until very recently. In order to increase the very low percentage of female representatives in these councils, a new form of quota was introduced just before the 2009 municipal elections. In each district, an additional list, restricted to women, was attached to the standard list of candidates mainly composed of men. This form of positive discrimination led to a substantial increase in the number of female candidates and eventually contributed to the increase of women’s representation in municipal and communal councils from 0,54% (in 2003) to more than 12% (in 2009). Whereas such increases have been highlighted - at the national as well as international level – as clear signs of Morocco’s move towards a more egalitarian political system, gender analysts have highlighted the need to look beyond such figures in order to identify the inequalities, as well as the new configurations that might lie underneath them, which might shed new light on processes such as those aiming at promoting participation. Thus, my paper will seek to analyse the inclusion process of women into Moroccan local politics from a micro-sociological perspective, on the basis of multi-situated ethnographic investigations I have conducted while following, in situ, the campaign of three female candidates – and former NGO leaders - who are living in suburban areas of Casablanca. Through a description of their first experience as political candidates, I will mainly analyse the impact that their past as NGO leaders, as well as their gender have had on the ways they planned and led their campaign.