Our Endorsements in the 2022 Elections
Statement from Jeremiah Lowery, Chair of DC for Democracy, regarding the recent endorsement vote:
More DC4D members voted in this year’s endorsement than any other in the organization’s history. 173 DC4D members voted to endorse Initiative 82 and the following candidates:
· Ward 1: Brianne Nadeau (81.4 %)
· Ward 3: No endorsement
· Ward 5: Zachary Parker (84.5 % with second choice votes counted)*
· Ward 6: Charles Allen (80.5 %)
· Council Chair: Erin Palmer (78.9 %)
· Mayor: Robert White (89.2 % with second choice votes counted)*
* These races took second choice votes into account because there were more than two candidates running.
Each of this year’s endorsed candidates won with more than 75% of the membership’s support.
DC4D puts organizing power behind our endorsements, we do not make paper endorsements. We are gearing up to actively campaign for all our endorsed candidates, as well as Initiative 82, by getting petition signatures, hosting meet & greets, knocking on doors, phone-banking and donating. We encourage anyone who believes in people-powered leaders to join us in supporting these candidates, and engage in elections to do the hard work of campaigning and electing winning candidates.
It’s no surprise that we endorsed Initiative 82, just as we supported and campaigned for I-77. We enthusiastically support One Fair Wage, with tips on top, for tipped workers. This is a worker rights issue and also a gender and racial justice issue. We expect DC voters to support it, as they did in 2018 — and this time, we’re very hopeful that the DC Council will respect the will of the voters.
We are very pleased to endorse Brianne Nadeau, who has been a leader on housing justice through her championing of rent control, protections for tenants and the unhoused, and funding for affordable housing. She has also been a leader in the broader social justice agenda, including the transformative Homes and Hearts Amendment in the last budget. We look forward to getting her re-elected and to work closely with her to promote our shared policy priorities.
We have endorsed Charles Allen in every election cycle. He has been a leader on democracy reforms ranging from Fair Elections and campaign finance reform to ranked choice voting. He has a strong record on criminal justice reforms that take a public health approach to violent crime. We also appreciate his leadership in the transformative Homes and Hearts Amendment. We look forward to continuing to work closely with him to enact our shared policy priorities.
We’re very excited to endorse Zachary Parker for the open seat in Ward 5. Our members have lined up behind Zachary because they are confident he’s the strongest and most energetic progressive candidate in this race. This is by far the most competitive Council election, and we look forward to electing a Ward 5 Councilmember who shares our values and vision for advancing social justice in DC.
There was no question that we would endorse Erin Palmer for Council Chair. I can’t think of anybody who better represents DC4D values than Erin. She has shown up and pushed and fought for every policy issue we care about. Her integrity and commitment are beyond question. The current Council Chair is the biggest obstacle to the Council acting for progressive change. We badly need the kind of leadership that Erin personifies.
Our overwhelming endorsement of Robert White is truly historic. Over the past 18 years, DC for Democracy has never endorsed a Mayoral candidate. The pandemic has made us newly aware of the powers of the Mayor to address — or fail to address — the historic and worsening inequities in our community. This endorsement is a sign of our members’ hunger for a different kind of Mayor, one that places human needs and social justice over monied interests. Robert represents the shift in values and priorities that DC families desperately need.
The detailed results of the endorsement vote are contained in this spreadsheet. You can verify that your ballot was correctly recorded by looking at the “Voter” column on each tab, which contains the unique ballot number that you were assigned by ElectionBuddy. You can also review the first choice votes on ElectionBuddy, our e-voting platform. Note: In races with more than two candidates (in this case, the mayor and Ward 5 council votes), DC4D uses a modified system of ranked choice voting, where you can rank up to two candidates.
