July Steering Committee Updates

July 18, 2018 Annalisa Wilde Steering Committee Update 0

Here’s a quick overview of the Cynthia Nixon/Jumaane Williams endorsement process, which the Steering Committee has been working hard to carry-out:

  1. Initiation: Upon receipt of the candidate questionnaires from Nixon and Williams, the Electoral Working Group recommended to the SC to replace usual non-binding electoral working group votes with an online advisory non-binding vote for all membership. The Steering Committee accepted this recommendation.
  2. The Candidate Forum: This was held on July 10 with both candidates, organized by the steering committee for with support from the branches for watch parties.
  3. The Advisory Vote: After the candidate forum, an advisory, non binding vote was sent to all membership. The advisory vote closed on July 17th – the results are shared with the membership:
    1. 1134 For, 343 Against, 54 Undecided
  4. The Branch Votes: Members must be present at the Branch meeting to vote. The threshold for passing endorsement is 60%. Each candidate will be considered separately. These meetings will be held between now and the 29th. Check the calendar for your branch meeting time. If 3 branches pass the 60% threshold, then the matter will formally be referred to the CLC.
  5. The CLC Vote: The CLC is preparing to have an emergency session on July 29th if the endorsement is referred to them. At this session the CLC will vote on endorsement. If 60% of the total yes and no votes (abstentions will not be counted) are yes for endorsement, the endorsement will be given.

Some other things the Steering Committee has been up to:

Training:

At the end of June there was a Branch and WG organizing committee training talking about base-building, deepening member engagement, and structural racism and patriarchy.

New Member Engagement:

After Alexandria’s election on June 26, we have been coordinating organizational efforts around the wave of new members – it was the largest single-day bump in DSA’s history. This includes connecting branch efforts and rolling out the first new member orientations in over a year.

Coming up: Our Summer Socialist Semi-Formal Fundraiser, and WG leadership trainings focused on strategic planning and campaigning