Progressive Dane Candidate/Elected Official Expectations

Adopted October 2005

Progressive Dane is a local, independent political party. We seek to ally progressive individuals and community organizations in a unified and independent force for electoral politics and non-electoral issue work. Progressive Dane is democratically run, with the general membership making all decisions, including endorsements, based on our values and principles.

We expect endorsed candidates to actively serve their districts and to work with each other, Progressive Dane’s membership, and their constituents to build support for progressive ideals. In return, we commit the organization and its members to supporting them both during the electoral campaign and their terms in office.

To be considered for an endorsement, candidates must be members of Progressive Dane, commit to working hard to get elected and to actively serve once in office, review this document and the Progressive Dane platform for Madison/Dane County, and return the PD Candidate Questionnaire in writing to the Progressive Dane Elections Committee.

We expect endorsed candidates to actively serve their districts. To be effective, elected officials must both respond to their district’s needs and consider issues in a broader context (the good of the city/county as a whole). We expect the candidates we endorse to:

· Maintain an active presence in their districts and keep constituents informed via neighborhood associations, planning groups, neighborhood newsletters, e-mail and list serves, listening sessions and meetings.

· Encourage and facilitate public involvement in the political process, by alerting their constituents to issues related to their district and citywide, convening/facilitating meetings around those issues, helping constituents navigate public policy and administrative processes, and actively soliciting input from residents, neighborhood groups and businesses in their district on city/county issues.

· Give careful consideration to district concerns when contemplating each vote and action while serving in office.

We expect endorsed candidates to help build support for progressive ideals. The ideals contained in the Progressive Dane platforms are expressed daily by people across Madison and Dane County. Some are in place in practice or law, others are yet to be achieved. We expect the candidates we endorse to help to shape our shared goals and to build awareness and support for them by:

· Working collaboratively with their constituents, other progressive elected officials, and Progressive Dane’s task forces and committees to implement progressive policy.

· Publicly identifying as affiliated with Progressive Dane and attending Progressive Dane fundraising and outreach events.

· Articulating progressive positions in the media and other forums.

· Helping elect other candidates endorsed by Progressive Dane; remaining publicly neutral in races where they do not agree with the endorsement of the organization.

· Presenting information at Progressive Dane’s General Membership Meetings and write articles for the Progressive Dane newsletter. Lend their name to fundraising and membership recruitment efforts.

· Helping increase the Progressive Dane’s membership by hosting or being the featured guest at house parties, by personally recruiting new members and by working with Progressive Dane’s staff to encourage their supporters to become members.

· Recruiting progressive candidates for elected office.

We commit the organization and its members to supporting endorsed candidates during the election and in elected office. Serving the community well means, in part, looking to others for support of your work. Progressive Dane commits to helping endorsed candidates and elected officials by:

· Providing campaign training and expertise for candidates and their volunteers.

· Providing modest financial and significant volunteer support for their campaign.

· Providing access to the Progressive Dane voterfile during and after election.

· Making available policy expertise and volunteer support for progressive issues once elected.

· Assisting with constituent relations, working with the media and developing strategies to promote progressive policy once in office.

This will make our party and our endorsed candidates more successful in serving our community.