“We really think of ourselves as a pipeline-building organization,” says Stevie McCarty, president of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, an influential LGBTQ political group in Washington, D.C. The group’s latest effort aims to recruit LGBTQ residents to run for local office, specifically as advisory neighborhood commissioners.
In Washington, D.C. politics, advisory neighborhood commissioners, part-time, unpaid, nonpartisan members, are the elected officials closest to residents.
Every two years, 345 ANC seats (each representing approximately 2,000 residents of a particular geographical area) are placed on the ballot paper.
Once elected, commissioners serve on the Advisory Neighborhood Committee (ANC), which spans the city’s eight wards. They represent neighborhoods and advise city officials on issues such as zoning, construction and economic development, liquor and business licensing, traffic calming measures, sanitation and pest control, and public safety.
Capital Stonewall Democrats believe these 345 seats have potential. Although the region’s LGBTQ population is proportionally almost double that of other provinces, political commentators have criticized the ANC’s pool of candidates for failing to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, including districts with large LGBTQ populations.
To increase LGBTQ representation in the ANC, Capital Stonewall Democrats launched Queering the ANCs, a first-of-its-kind digital program to recruit, train, and support LGBTQ candidates running for ANC seats.
“In a perfect world, we would like to fill every ANC seat. Last cycle, there were about 55 ANC seats where there were no candidates at all,” says McCarty, who heads ANC 2G04. These vacancies can go unfilled for months or even years if no one steps forward.
Another common criticism of the ANC is that in many races only one candidate comes together and the outcome is swayed. fait accompli It’s not a contest between competing platforms or ideas.
The percentage of non-LGBTQ board members hovers around 10% to 11%, which is lower than the percentage of LGBTQ people in D.C.’s overall population.
“We’re working on this program to fill that gap,” McCarty said. “Querying the ANC” is part of the organization’s long-term strategy to field strong LGBTQ candidates as candidates.
structure
The core of this initiative is web-based tools This assesses the interest, availability and readiness of those running for ANC seats. Users can take an online quiz and enter their address to find out who their current neighborhood representative is.
Once potential candidates receive their quiz results, they will be invited to create a “Campaign Co-Pilot” account. This account shares a name with the Capital Stonewall Democratic Party and grants access to the candidate portal.
After registering as an official candidate, you can obtain your voter file from the DC Board of Elections and upload it to the portal. This file allows you to verify petition signatures and create a list of doors to canvas. The portal also provides a “to-do” list to guide candidates through each stage of their campaign.
To be on the ballot, ANC candidates must submit 25 signatures from DC registered voters by 5pm on Wednesday, August 5th. The portal explains where and how to submit a petition and includes a tracker to help candidates monitor the signatures they collect.
“We built this tool because many potential local committee members are never asked to run, don’t know where to start, or don’t have the practical support they need to vote,” McCarty said. “So we wanted to build this in a simple, convenient and accessible way that commissioners and candidates could use on their own time as they aspire to become commissioners.”
The portal includes training modules and courses, as well as tools that allow candidates to set voter contact and petition signature goals. McCarty said these features are meant to make campaigns more manageable and approachable.
“It’s scary for people to think about the extra time they’re going to have to spend on a campaign, let alone a service mission,” McCarty said. “If you think of Apple Fitness, it’s like a wellness app for campaigns. You can set goals like, ‘I want to get 10 petition signatures this week,’ or ‘I want to talk to five neighbors this week.'”
The check-in board provides weekly messages encouraging candidates to achieve these goals.
The Candidate Portal also includes a safety toolkit that addresses online data privacy and provides practical guidance for candidates exploring neighborhoods and collecting petition signatures.
These resources reflect the increased risk of harassment and victimization that gay and transgender candidates face. “Campaigns are scary and it’s very difficult for queer and trans members of the community to fully step into public life,” he says. “So the lessons are designed with some of the framework to keep people safe.”
For residents who are unable or unwilling to run for office themselves, “ANC Querying” provides a tool to nominate neighbors as potential candidates. This tool sends emails encouraging candidates to take action and directs them to campaign resources.
“You probably don’t want to run for the ANC yourself, but this kind of power building has to be a shared community effort,” McCarty says. “Maybe your nudge or 60-second quiz will motivate someone.
“So we encourage anyone who feels like they know the mayor or the neighborhood well enough to nominate a candidate. We can also plan or host an event to bring neighbors together to talk about finding potential candidates. So we’ll show you how to advance your community and how to guide your neighbors through the process.”
For more information, to start a campaign or to nominate someone to run for an ANC seat, please visit: queeringancs.org.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
