By John Hickey, Missouri Chapter Political Chair
Candidate Screening
Sierra Club members across the state have sat down with candidates running for seats in the State House and State Senate. These face-to-face interviews are a key part of our endorsement process, which also includes a written questionnaire, as well as a review of the candidate's voting record (in the case of incumbents).
For example, in July, thirteen Sierra Club members met at a member's home in Kirkwood to meet with candidate Deb Lavender, Democratic candidate in the 94th district. Also in July, eight members met with Don Gosen, Republican candidate for the 84th district in Chesterfield - the picture above shows our meeting with Mr. Gosen, who is on the far side of the table. Moving counterclockwise are members Nordeka English. Louise Belt. Rich Egan, Clare Laune, and Robert Ernst.
Please play close attention to the list of candidates recommended by the Sierra Club (on page 4 of this newsletter). Bring this list with you to the polls on Election Day, to elect a legislature here that will take action on our key issues like creating clean energy jobs, preserving open space, and funding mass transit.
Getting Out the Word
Endorsing candidates is just the first step in the process for the Sierra Club political program. Next, we must help those candidates win the election. The most effective way to do that is for our volunteers to speak one on one with voters, whether by telephone or by door-to-door canvassing. Research shows that this sort of personal contact is the most effective means to either persuade a voter to support our candidate, or to convince a voter to come to the polls.
In the picture at the bottom, Sierra Club volunteers canvass for two of our endorsed candidates. Candidate Susan Carlson shows Club member John Hickey the voter lists that we used that day. To her right is candidate Rory Ellinger, who ran in an adjacent district. To his right (under the hat) is Ginger Harris, and next is Janet Garrison. Other members who participated that day included Leslie Lihou, Janet Crews, Claralyn Bollinger, Adam Hasz, Jackie Randazzo and John Feldmann.
Both Susan Carlson and Rory Ellinger won their primary elections on August 3rd. It is worth noting that Rory Ellinger won by 61 votes, while we have 140 Sierra Club members in the district, whom we phonebanked and canvassed for their support. Sierra Club members provided the victory margin in this race. That was especially sweet because Rory's spouse Linda Locke is a longtime Sierra Club member too!
To win more victories on November 2, we need you to help by volunteering on our phonebanks and canvasses. Please contact the Club headquarters to let us know if you can volunteer some time before the election.