Our Endorsement Process
Metro DC DSA is a democratic, member-led organization. This means that members have the opportunity to review, debate, discuss, and vote on any candidate or ballot measure campaign as part of an extensive endorsement process.
All applications for endorsements are sent to our chapter’s elected Steering Committee, which works with the Political Engagement Committee (PEC) to coordinate our endorsement process. Members of the chapter are then informed that our chapter has received an application for endorsement. A formal resolution to endorse must then be moved at a subsequent monthly membership meeting by at least five chapter members in good standing. The body will have an opportunity to consider and debate the resolution before the end of the voting period of the next scheduled general body meeting. During this time in between monthly membership meetings—typically about 30 days—chapter members will have multiple opportunities to engage with candidates through recorded question-and-answer conference calls hosted by the Political Engagement Committee.
All campaign responses during the endorsement process, except those including personal contact information, will be made publicly available on this website.
Any candidate or ballot measure campaign interested in an endorsement from our DSA chapter, or any chapter member interested in sponsoring a resolution, is strongly encouraged to review Metro DC DSA’s 2026-27 Electoral Endorsement Handbook and Section 4 of the MDC DSA Bylaws which detail the endorsement process. A summarized version of all endorsement steps can be found below.
Campaign Questionnaires
Candidates who wish to apply for an endorsement must start the endorsement process by filling out our chapter’s candidate questionnaire if they are running for a non-School Board seat. We have a separate school board candidate questionnaire with more specific questions for those races. Leaders of ballot measure campaigns who wish to apply for an endorsement must start the endorsement process by filling out our chapter’s ballot measure questionnaire. We recommend making a copy of the questionnaire document and answering in bullet points under each question.
Once complete, candidates and ballot measure campaign leaders must send the questionnaire to our chapter’s Political Engagement Committee at pec@mdcdsa.org. From there, the PEC will work with the Steering Committee to begin the endorsement process. The full endorsement process is outlined in more detail in the following sections of this handbook.
Candidate and ballot measure questionnaires are due on the date listed in the chart below. The chapter’s Steering Committee may elect to open the endorsement process for additional candidates and ballot measures in primary elections, though reopening the process is will only occur in extremely extenuating circumstances or those specified in the bylaws.
Important Deadlines for 2026-2027
Each year, the Metro DC DSA Steering Committee is responsible for setting two monthly membership meetings as the designated meetings during which our DSA chapter will debate on electoral endorsements. These monthly all-chapter meetings (known as general body meetings) are followed by an online vote of all members to decide whether the chapter will approve an endorsement.
The next two Metro DC DSA endorsement cycles for the 2026 General Election and the 2027 Primary Elections are listed in the table below. Associated deadlines are also in the table. This table will be updated yearly with more precise dates as we get closer to each election cycle.
Metro DC DSA Endorsement Meetings and Deadlines for Upcoming 2026 & 2027 Elections
History of Our Electoral Program
Metro DC DSA members have knocked on more than 270,000 doors and made over 61,000 phonebank calls to voters since our electoral program was relaunched in 2017. We’ve helped elect candidates as part of progressive and labor coalitions in Virginia, Maryland, and DC. Our endorsed candidates have gone on to fight for legislation that expands public housing, increases taxes on the rich, caps insulin prices, repeals anti-union right to work laws, creates social wealth funds, bans revolving door lobbying, closes corporate tax loopholes, creates a universal basic income, exposes confidential police records, and more. We also organized a field and media campaign that knocked 18,000 doors for the successful Ballot Initiative 82 in DC, which ended the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers until Mayor Bowser and the DC Council paused implementation against the will of the voters.
Our endorsements aren’t just a recommendation to our members to vote for a particular candidate or ballot measure, but a commitment to fight to get that candidate elected or to get that ballot measure passed. We organize canvasses, phone banks, text banking, poll coverage, press releases, rallies, and more to help our endorsed candidates and ballot measures win. We also combine our electoral organizing with our non-electoral organizing. For example, we have canvassed apartment buildings where Metro DC DSA’s tenant organizing group Stomp Out Slumlords has helped to form tenant unions after holding a rally with those tenants. And once we’ve helped elect candidates to office, we have coordinated closely with them to draft legislation, organize legislative pressure campaigns, advance our shared agenda, and block anti-worker legislation.
Information on our current 2026 primary candidates can be found here.