Candidate Endorsement Policy   (adopted 1996, revised 1997, 2001, 2006)
The Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee is committed to a feminist agenda; it seeks to implement that agenda through primarily political means.  Electing feminists who share our commitments is an important goal; helping elected officials and candidates for public office to advance the feminist agenda is another.

To achieve those goals, the SBWPC will engage in the following activities:

1.       We shall seek out, recruit and train women who represent our agenda whom we will SPONSOR as candidates for various offices.  Such candidate(s) will receive our support prior to the filing deadline for the race and be the primary recipient(s) of our resources in any particular race.  Sponsorship cannot be solicited by candidates.

2.       From among declared candidates, we may ENDORSE those who are committed to our agenda, and support them with our resources once the filing deadline in that race has closed.

3.       THE SBWPC may RE-ENDORSE candidates whom the SBWPC has previously endorsed, who are running for the same seat, and who have shown commitment to our agenda while in office.  THE SBWPC may RE-ENDORSE candidates prior to the filing deadline at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

4.       We may OPPOSE those candidates whose election we believe would represent a setback to the feminist agenda.

The SBWPC shall not sponsor, endorse or re-endorse more candidates than the number of vacancies for that race.

Procedures:
 

In order to maximize the SBWPC impact, the process of selecting candidates to ENDORSE or RE-ENDORSE
shall begin as early as possible for any election.  The Board of Directors acting expeditiously, shall make
all final decisions based on the report of the Elections and Appointments Committee, which shall operate
as follows:

—        Candidate Assessment Teams (CATs) will constitute the mechanism of this procedure.

—         A CAT for each race shall consist of 3 or 5 members chosen (by vote, consensus, or volunteering)
             at a meeting of the Elections & Appointments Committee (SBWPC membership is required to
             serve on the CAT).

—        CAT members may not be publicly committed to any candidate in the race for which they are
            interviewing.

·                   The CAT for each race shall develop a questionnaire (based on SBWPC position papers) tailored
specifically for that race and submit it to the Board for approval.

—        The CAT shall conduct interviews of local candidates with the goal of determining the level of
each candidate’s commitment to the SBWPC agenda and to the platform developed for that race.
Statewide candidates shall only be interviewed at the direction of the Board of Directors.

—        The CAT will also conduct background research as appropriate, examining the campaign literature,
            past performance, and record as a candidate and/or elected official.     

—        The CAT may recommend SPONSOR, ENDORSE, RE-ENDORSE or OPPOSE or take no position.

—        Each CAT shall report to the E&A committee, which will forward the platform, CAT recommendation
            and additional committee comments to the Board for final action.

The Board of Directors may vote to RE-ENDORSE any candidate at any Board Meeting. The Board of
Directors may act on all other recommendations only at an SBWPC Endorsement Meeting where the
membership has been duly noticed of the impending endorsement actions. Sufficient time must be
scheduled to allow a complete evaluation of the CAT reports. In any race, the endorsement discussion

must include a comprehensive overview of all the candidates in the race, the CAT report and our
political strategy for the race before a vote on any candidate in that race is taken. After input from
the members in attendance, the Board may vote to SPONSOR, ENDORSE, RE-ENDORSE or OPPOSE;
such decisions can be made only by a vote of 2/3 of the current eligible Board Members. The voting

will take place in executive session, with only Board Members present. 

All board members will disclose any connection to a given campaign. Paid staff members, anyone
providing paid services to a candidate or campaign, or anyone with a familial relationship to a
candidate must recuse themselves from the executive session, elections committee and vote
relating to endorsement/sponsorship/re-endorsement in the race in which they are involved.

Confidentiality:

Directly following any meeting when the Board voted to SPONSOR, ENDORSE, RE-ENDORSE or
OPPOSE a candidate; the decision will be made public.  The CAT report and all discussion about
the candidates shall be confidential and shall not leave the meeting room.  Anyone unwilling to
comply with the confidentiality policy will not be permitted to participate in the endorsement
process. Within three days of casting a vote, SPONSOR, ENDORSE, RE-ENDORSE or OPPOSE a
candidate, the President shall send a letter to each interviewed candidate, announcing our
endorsement in that race. Statewide candidates who may not have had an interview but who
are seeking our re-endorsement shall also be informed by the President in writing of the
Board’s vote in that race. A press release shall be issued immediately following any meeting

when the Board voted to SPONSOR, ENDORSES or OPPOSE a candidate.

Initiatives and Propositions

All initiatives that touch on SBWPC policy issues should be reviewed by the appropriate committee
and a recommendation made to the E & A committee. E & A will review the issue and make a
recommendation to the board.

Initiatives and propositions not covered by a policy committee will be reviewed by E & A for relevance
to the SBWPC agenda and recommendations on whether to take a position made to the board.

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