Our Power for Policy Decisions: ENDORSEMENTS!

By Connie Schmidt and Linda Sullivan

The Sierra Club is unique among many organizations because we have a rigorous all-volunteer led process to endorse candidates for political office. Barbara Hill, the Chair of the Chapter Political Committee, describes the process like this: “Endorsing candidates helps us make and keep friends in office so that they will pass environmental legislation. We want to elect people that will be most effective at advancing our environmental agenda”. Helping with the endorsement process is also a great gateway to involve new members.

A questionnaire is developed which is specific to the office for which the candidate is running. The Sierra Club Illinois Chapter office sends questionnaires to all General Assembly candidates whose contact information can be found. RPG volunteers send the questionnaire to candidates in local races such as Forest Preserve Commission. 

The RPG’s Political Team meets with the candidates who return questionnaires and interviews them. Linda Sullivan, the River Prairie Group Political chair, runs the process. Commitments for support of environmental issues is crucial as well as a sound plan for electability.

This is not a “one-step” process. There are check and balance factors along the way. The RPG’s Political Team makes a recommendation whether to endorse. Their recommendation is then sent to the RPG Group Executive Committee who must vote with a 2/3 majority on the endorsement. The decision must then go up to the Illinois Chapter or the Chapter Political Committee for yet another 2/3 majority vote. In the case of the US Congress and US Senate, The National Sierra Club Political Team also must vote before an endorsement can be announced.

Endorsements can be crucial benefits for candidates. We provide our logo to the campaign to use on literature. In many situations, we rally volunteers to walk, phone bank and attend events in support of endorsed candidates. Our endorsements are available online. In some cases, Sierra Club funds field workers to the campaign offices.

Because of the many environmental champions that the Sierra Club has put in office, Illinois has passed numerous environmental bills including the recent Clean and Reliable Grid Act, Transportation Bill, Protecting the Mahomet Aquifer downstate, and many other efforts. Illinois shines both in clean energy job creation and as a top-tier state for clean energy in the Midwest, ranking 5th in the nation for total installed wind, solar, and battery storage capacity. 

We are proud of our all-volunteer led endorsement process. When the call goes out to join us in helping the campaigns of our future champions, we hope you will join us in whatever way you can. 

You can find our endorsements on the Illinois Chapter website.