Endorsement Timeline
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Endorsement Application Period Opens (Questionnaires and Member Support Made Available) | January 7th |
| Candidate Questionnaire Deadline | February 7th |
| Deadline to Gather Membership Support | February 14th |
| Membership Q&As and Leadership Meetings | February 15th – March 8th |
| Steering Committee Vote | March 9th |
| Endorsement Meeting | March 15th (tentative) |
| Voting Period | March 17th – 21st |
| Endorsement Announcements | Week of March 24th |
Why Seek Endorsement?
Twin Cities DSA members will organize canvasses, phone banks, text banking, press releases, and more to help our endorsed candidates win their race! Our endorsements are meant to be more than a recommendation to our members to vote for a particular candidate — instead, they are a commitment to fight to get that candidate elected and enact change, while helping to build the broader movement for socialism. Once you’re in office, we will work alongside you to push the policies and projects that helped propel you to victory as we build a socialist future for the Twin Cities!
First Steps:
- Questionnaires (Posted here by January 7th.)
Candidates interested in seeking TCDSA endorsement should review and respond to the 2025 Candidate Questionnaires. Questionnaires are due by February 7th, questionnaire responses will be made available to members to review. - Member Support
As candidates indicate they are interested in seeking TCDSA endorsement, they will be provided a form to gather member support, and members of the chapter are then informed of candidates seeking our endorsement. To be considered for endorsement, a candidate will need to demonstrate support for consideration from 3% of TCDSA members — 42 people as of Dec. 2024. Member support motions are due by February 14th.
Chapter Meetings:
- Meeting with Leadership
After being supported by the required number of chapter members and submitting questionnaires, candidates will be invited to a meeting with our Steering Committee and Socialists In Office Committee. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce candidates to the SIO structure, allow candidates to ask questions about DSA, and talk about what our collaboration over their term can look like. These will be held via Zoom jointly with the candidate Q&A sessions. - Candidate Q&A Session
After being supported by the required number of chapter members and submitting questionnaires, candidates will be invited to a Question-and-Answer meeting with Twin Cities DSA’s general membership. These will be held via Zoom jointly with the meeting with chapter leadership. - Endorsement Meeting and Vote
We will consider our endorsements in March, tentatively planned for March 15th. Each candidate will be given a few minutes to state why they should receive a TCDSA endorsement. Following that, membership will engage in a facilitated debate on the endorsements being considered.
Following the conclusion of this Meeting, an OpaVote ballot will be emailed to TCDSA membership. To be endorsed, a candidate must receive at least 60% of votes on a ranked “Single Transferable Vote” (STV) ballot — defeating any competing candidates as well as “No Endorsement”. The endorsement results will be announced the week following the vote.
A Note on Candidate Filtering
- To help inform the general membership and Steering Committee of any important considerations, the TCDSA Electoral Committee may conduct basic research on candidates and the offices being sought for endorsement. This would most likely relate to the viability of a candidate’s campaign to win, or alignment on important issues if findings differ greatly from the submitted questionnaire. However, this research will not make recommendations for or against endorsement.
Based on this information — or for example, if an overwhelming number of candidates seek endorsement, making the Endorsement Meeting untenable — the chapter Steering Committee has the ability to decide who proceeds to the Endorsement Meeting and appears on the endorsement ballot.
Also Good to Know
- If not endorsed: If it should happen that you don’t get endorsed, this will not prevent TCDSA members from working for your campaign, as long as nothing either you or they do would give the impression that TCDSA has endorsed you.
- Building support with chapter members for consideration: As soon as your questionnaire is submitted, you can post on your own social media, ask in person, or ask other members to advocate for you in their networks! If you are also a member, you can ask your comrades on Slack or via other open channels to support Twin Cities DSA considering your candidacy for endorsement.
Have questions? Please email electoral@twincitiesdsa.org.
Solidarity Forever!