Getting people registered to vote, educated about the issues and out to the polls on Election Day is a critical part of any campaign to get people involved in the democratic process. Partisan political campaigns must also be included to truly empower a community of voters. Our activists want and deserve the opportunity to endorse and work for those candidates who really represent their views. The Neighbor to Neighbor Action Fund gives our activists that opportunity – full access to the political process as part of an organization working to build power in their community.

Partisan electoral work is also critical for holding politicians accountable to their constituents. One significant electoral victory in a city that has historically been unresponsive to its low-income constituents dramatically increases both the respect public officials give to these non-traditional voters and the accountability of politicians to their needs. There are many temptations to vote against the interests of the working people in their districts, but none of them outweighs staying in office. We cannot truly empower the communities we work in without wielding the “final accountability” of elections.

Candidates for elected office are interviewed and evaluated by a committee of our most experienced and involved activists. These committees ask each candidate questions about their positions on our priority issues. Endorsement decisions are made based on their responses and our statewide endorsement criteria, ensuring that all decisions are consistent with our mission and principles.

In elections that are top organizational priorities, we devote significant staff resources to campaign consulting and grassroots management to make sure our organizing work has the most impact possible. We run intensive voter contact campaigns, using targeted door-knocking, phone banking and mailings to identify supporters for our candidate. We also coordinate get-out-the-vote campaigns on Election Day to make sure every identified supporter gets to the polls.

In races where we have a less intensive role, we still work to expand the phone banks and door-to-door work of our endorsed candidates. Our hard hitting direct mail pieces on issues affecting working families also have a significant impact in many close races.

Creating a dynamic relationship between grassroots organizing, issue advocacy, and electoral campaigns is at the core of our work to build power in low-income communities. They are not competing priorities. We need a balance between local leadership development and strategic planning, between winning on issues and winning elections, and between strengthening democracy and building community power. They are all essential elements of any political program working for social change.

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