To have elected officials who will make the right environmental decisions we need to elect the right officials. We in the Sierra Club have known that for a long time and that’s why we spend time and money every year making our endorsement decisions and backing the right candidates.
To get prepared for elections, Sierra Groups in Florida send their political committee representatives to be trained. The candidate endorsement process is under the strict supervision of the Sierra Club Florida Political Committee and by the National Polical Committee of the Sierra Club. The rules for backing and contributing to political candidates are stringent and the penalties for not following them can be severe.
Federal Endorsements
Consideration for endorsement of candidates, including incumbents and challengers, begins with the group political chairs in each relevant congressional district. The groups make initial contacts with candidates and facilitate the early stages of the endorsement process including the questionnaire and interview as prescribed by SCPC Endorsement Guidelines. The groups make endorsement recommendations to the Sierra Club Florida Political Committee, which in turn recommends the preferred course of action to the Florida Executive Committee. The Executive Committee serves as the first voting body and the SCPC Endorsements and Allocations Subcommittee serves as the second voting body for these endorsements.
State and Local Endorsements
The endorsements originate with the groups. However, state candidates and local candidates are handled using slightly different procedures.
The endorsement is initiated by the group executive committees of all the groups in a particular legislative district. Those recommendations are forwarded to the Sierra Club Florida Political Committee for the second level of approval. If groups fail to act in key races, the endorsement may be initiated by the Political Committee. In this case, the Florida Executive Committee provides the required second level of approval.
The local endorsement process goes through one of the regional political committees — made up of the political chairs of the included groups — and acts as the final approving body. The group executive committee acts as the first voting body for these endorsements and forwards recommendations to the appropriate regional political committee. The regional political committee votes on the recommendations and reports the results to the Sierra Club Florida Political Committee.