Candidate Endorsement Overview

TakeAction Minnesota endorses candidates to further our mission of social, racial, and economic justice. Through our screening process, we choose candidates who will champion progressive issues and can build a winning campaign. After endorsement, members volunteer through TakeAction to win elections and hold elected officials accountable.

CRITERIA FOR ENDORSEMENT

• Will this candidate be a bold leader on our progressive vision for Minnesota? Does their life experience illustrate bold leadership on our vision?
• Does this candidate have an effective plan to win that they are executing? Can they win?
• Does this candidate have an understanding of how to govern and the ability to do so? Is this candidate willing to co-govern with the progressive movement to implement our shared vision?
• Would you (a TakeAction Minnesota leader) be excited about supporting this candidate with your time and money?

PROCESS FOR ENDORSEMENT

How are races chosen? 
The TakeAction Minnesota Political Committee, a committee appointed by our Board of Directors, chooses which races to screen in based on many strategic considerations, including:

• What are the opportunities to advance our progressive vision for Minnesota?
• Will winning a particular race make more possible for our issues?
• How does the race contribute to our base building efforts across the progressive movement, including partner organizations, in communities of color, etc?
• Is the race in an area we want to build for our strategic campaigns the future?
• Is there a progressive champion who we want to work with?
• Will our effort make a difference?

Screenings & Recommendation for Endorsement
The Political Committee sets the dates for screenings, writes the candidate questionnaire and screening questions, and invites candidates to participate.  Leaders in TakeAction Minnesota screen candidates and recommend endorsement.  Leaders are defined as current dues paying members who are regular and active participants of our issue or constituency core teams as defined by our organizing and program staff. Currently, we have 8 such teams: Justice 4 All, Health Care, Organizing for a New Economy, Women of Color, Duluth Women and the Economy, Climate Justice, Care Worker Action and the Senior team. These leaders interview candidates and vote to recommend endorsement.

A candidate must receive 60% of the votes cast to receive an endorsement recommendation. There is a maximum of three ballots for any one race.

Endorsement

Members’ recommendation for endorsement is forwarded to the TakeAction Board, who may only vote to approve or reject that recommendation. The Board cannot change a recommendation or endorse candidates on its own.

ELIGIBILITY TO ATTEND AND VOTE

1. Screenings are a leadership assembly of contributing members of:
   1. our Board,
   2. our Political Committee,
   3. Leaders and Builders from our core teams, and
   4. representatives from our organizational members. Each member organization may send up to 2 representatives.
2. To vote, screening participants must be in the room to hear all the candidates in a given race.
3. Leadership Assembly participation is determined by TakeAction staff, who have the most accurate view of our top leaders’ engagement in our work. We work to ensure that those most involved decide the direction of our organization and the work we engage in to build governing power.