Criticisms that @ReformersNew's lacked BIPOC candidates are fair & should be discussed – with a lot of context.

I echo the @MarthaNAyon's thoughtful points.

In this I want to add both some context to promote more discussion and my own initial thoughts on this issue.

(1/16) https://twitter.com/MarthaNAyon/status/1286633842758090752

Among other things, the @ReformersNew effort provided us a chance to observe the structural racism of candidate recruitment.

In October 2019, New Reformers had its launch event. That's when we began publicizing our wish to support anyone who wanted to run w/ NR.

(2/16)

Between the launch & the start of petitioning, 34 people reached out to @ReformersNew expressing interest in running. Of the 34 who approached us:

• 20 (59%) were NHW (non-Hispanic White);

• 14 (41%) were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or [other] Person Of Color).

(3/16)

During that same period, those of us in @ReformersNew reached out through our respective activist networks to people whom we already knew & whom we thought could be great candidates. All told, we approached 53 people:

• 27 (51%) were BIPOC;
• 26 (49%) were NHW.

(4/16)

So combining the two categories above, we had a total of 87 prospective candidates:

• 46 (53%) were NHW;
• 41 (47%) were BIPOC.

Of those 87 prospects, 34 ultimately decided to run with @ReformersNew. Here's the breakdown of these 34:

• 25 were NHW;
• 09 were BIPOC.

(5/16)

Here's the breakdown of @ReformersNew's prospect-to-candidate conversions:

• 25 of 46 NHW (54%) decided to run w/ us

• 09 of 41 BIPOC (22%) decided to run w/ us

Put another way: the ratio of the conversion rate among NHWs to that among BIPOCs was greater than 2-to-1.

(6/16)

Why did 4 out of 5 BIPOC prospects ultimately decide not to run?

For many of us, the answer will not come as a surprise: substantial work & family commitments.

Those who had the time + money + energy + mental space to conduct a campaign were mostly (non-Hispanic) White.

(7/16)

I should note that there were also 3 prospective candidates who decided to run but not w/ @ReformersNew, and all 3 were BIPOC. Two are Black & decided to run as part of an all-Black slate (), while the third, who is Asian, decided to run w/ a legislative candidate.

(8/16)

Of the 34 who decided to run w/ NR, 8 didn't make the ballot. At this stage we lost 3 BIPOC candidates:

• 2 BIPOC weren't able to get enough signatures under COVID;

• 1 BIPOC got enough signatures but was knocked off b/c of a petition defect that wasn't cured in time.

(9/16)

Of the 34 who decided to run w/ @ReformersNew, 26 made the ballot: 20 NHW, 6 BIPOC.

I've typed many #'s, so here's a recap.

NHWs:
• 46 Prospects
• 25 Candidates (54%)
• 20 On the ballot (43%)

BIPOCs:
• 41 Prospects
• 09 Candidates (22%)
• 06 On the ballot (15%)

(10/16)

Of the 26 @ReformersNew candidates who made the ballot, 12 lost:

• 07 NHW
• 05 BIPOC.

Of the 5 BIPOC, 3 lost in very close races, by <5%.

Moreover, each of these 3 BIPOC ran against people who are not only NHWs but longtime incumbents (incl. 2 career legislators).

(11/16)

Of @ReformersNew's 26 who made the ballot, 14 were elected.

• 13 of 20 our balloted NHW candidates won;

• 01 of 06 our balloted BIPOC candidates won.

I should note that our BIPOC candidate who won her race is Latina, but to many she presents as non-Hispanic White.

(12/16)

Now that I've laid out the stats, I'll ask the question that they put in the forefront of my mind:

In this structurally racist political economy, which makes it so tough for BIPOC to make it – from desire to commitment to ballot to win – what can we do? What must we do?

(13/16)

For me, a good first step is recognizing that I didn't support BIPOCs enough. Though drawing new, vivid lessons from this experience will require more time, an old lesson was humbly reinforced:

Many of us BIPOC need much more support than NHW to hit the same benchmarks.

(14/16)

A 2nd step I'll take is to measure – objectively, coldly, even – how much time I spend with BIPOC vs. NHW people, and then take measures to change that ratio significantly. We only have so much time in a day; relationships have a way of determining which projects to do.

(15/16)

A 3rd step I'll be taking is to adopt an approach to spending money that more closely reflects the reality that BIPOC need much more support – perhaps exponentially more – than do NHW in order to hit the same benchmarks.

Ok that's it for now. I welcome your thoughts.

(16/16)