We all found different ways into our party. For some, it was an issue that galvanized us – the Iraq War, Trump’s presidency, or fair school funding. For others it’s an invitation – to a town committee’s barbeque, or a warm welcome from a fellow Rotarian or activist at a climate rally.
And for many folks, their first experience with our party is when they run for office themselves.
We need to open more doors for people to enter into our party. We need a long-term candidate recruitment strategy that elevates activists, organizers, and community leaders – not just placeholders on the ballot – in every community and provides adequate resources to ensure folks see themselves as representatives of our party, whether they’re running in an open primary or a tough House district.
As I seek the office of chair for New Hampshire’s Democratic Party, I’ve created a plan to open the door for local candidates who form the backbone of this party and the next generation of Democratic leaders in New Hampshire.
From races for state rep to the U.S. Senate, our party wins when every candidate is equipped with the best tools to engage and activate their community around our shared values. Running for State House requires digital skills and fundraising capacity, not to mention expertise in sifting out predatory direct mail vendors and media consultants and their deluge of sales calls and pitches.
Our state leadership, and indeed our party, carries a wealth of campaign knowledge and best-practices, but this knowledge and skill isn’t shared effectively or equitably across the state. I have a plan to fix that.
Transparency and accountability are core values of the Democratic Party, and we owe it to our candidates, donors, and voters to be up front and honest when it comes to the party’s relationship with contractors and consultants. Following my “Local First Strategic Plan,” we will provide every town committee with a new campaign toolkit, which includes publishing a comprehensive directory of vendors that meet high-quality performance standards for fair market prices.
Neutrality in open primaries is essential for the integrity of our party. But too often, the party treats neutrality as a lock on the door until after the primary election. This is a missed opportunity to engage new audiences with the values of the Democratic Party.
Open primaries are a chance for candidates to feel connected to our party, to our platform, and to each other, and they allow us to celebrate the diversity of ideas and perspectives that makes the Democratic Party great.
A healthy and vibrant primary ensures the strongest candidate and clearest voice competes in every general election, and it also helps those who don’t win their primary still feel like this is their party, too. These contests make our party stronger, especially when candidates compete on an equal footing.
Our party is strong when all who run for office under its banner feel seen and connected to our values. Regardless of an electoral victory or defeat, a candidates’ experience and community connections are essential to the long-term growth of our party. Even many losing campaigns leave an indelible impact on voters and often develop deep knowledge of their communities, a bench of well-trained and motivated volunteers, and a web of strong relationships in the communities they organized.
Whether in the primary or the general, too many candidates up and down the ballot are treated like a revenue source for the party rather than the source of the party’s strength and continued growth. Under my plan, the NHDP will price campaign tools – including the voter file – appropriately, so that every candidate can access these essential campaign resources. By pricing these tools appropriately, the party can also place downward pressure on the ever-ballooning cost of campaigns in our state. This is a necessary step toward making campaigns for local offices accessible for the many activists, organizers, and community leaders who may one day become candidates for higher office.
Under my Local First plan, the NHDP will view its role in primaries as actively neutral and will seek to foster equity, not isolation, and to provide every candidate a new minimum level of support, which includes introducing all candidates to our party’s issues, policies, and core message, and to each other. It’s time to unlock and open the door, and let in the tremendous potential waiting on the other side. As a candidate for NHDP chair, my plan does exactly that.
(Emmett Soldati lives in Somersworth,)