Hi John, it’s Shawn, Sister District’s Organizing and Political Director.

Before I dive in, I’m thrilled to share with you that we’ll be announcing our 2025 candidate endorsements in Virginia very soon!

In the meantime, I wanted to pull back the curtain on how we decide who to endorse. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into that decision, it’s thoughtful, strategic, and a little nerdy — in the best way possible.

If you’re short on time, but want to power our work, please pitch in $25.25 or more right now.

Now, let’s get into it!

There are over 7,000 state legislative seats in the United States, but only a handful are competitive, winnable, and strategic.

That’s why we begin each cycle with a deep, data-driven analysis — both quantitative and qualitative— to identify the most promising electoral opportunities. Then we talk to community members on the ground who help us refine our targets and find the most compelling candidates running in strategic, winnable districts who will help us build progressive power in state legislatures across the country.

We evaluate candidates on several factors, including: 

• Their commitment to a number of our Sister District core values, including reproductive freedom, voting rights, and environmental stewardship
• Their community leadership history
• Their coalition of support and their campaign infrastructure

We proudly support candidates from all backgrounds, and we prioritize women, candidates of color, LGBTQ+ candidates, and those from nontraditional backgrounds — because we know they face additional barriers when running for office and our democracy is stronger when it reflects the full chorus of American voices. 

Once we’ve selected and matched candidates with our amazing volunteer teams, we announce our endorsements — and then we roll up our sleeves and work hand-in-hand with their campaign through Election Day! 

The work we do in planning for each cycle — including identifying and supporting progressive candidates in high-impact races — is powered by grassroots contributions. 

As we gear up to announce our Virginia endorsements, can you chip in $25.25 or more to support Sister District?

Thank you so much for being part of this work, and stay tuned!  

Shawn Werner 
Organizing and Political Director
Sister District

P.S. Want to learn more? Here’s a full breakdown of our candidate selection process.

Paid for by Sister District Project. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Donations to Sister District Project, a 527 organization, are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.