This election, Sierra Club Independent Action is digging deep and going local

For most of my career, I've been an organizer with a focus on state and local politics. This is an extremely powerful part of the political realm to zero in on, because elected officials at every level are influenced by and dependent on what happens in the states and cities we all call home. 

That's why I'm fired up and excited to welcome you into Sierra Club Independent Action's political work for this cycle, and our strategy to dig deep and go local. 

Before Sierra Club, I was an organizer in Colorado working to get in-state tuition for undocumented students, and I saw firsthand the impact of elections. The student activists did everything right in our campaign: they showed up, organized in their communities, made calls, wrote postcards, and eventually got two republicans committed to vote yes on the bill. But when news got out that we were close to a victory, the legislature worked quickly to send the bill to a "kill committee" during the last week of the session. 

At one point, we were waiting in the vestibule of the Colorado Legislature, emotional from the reality of the loss, and I told the students, "Hey, I understand if you don't want to have our regular organizing meeting tomorrow." But those students schooled me.

They said give us the keys, because we're going to figure out what we need to ensure that next year, the bill won’t be sent to a kill committee. For the next 6 months, they worked tirelessly to elect good politicians. And a year later, that same group of students sat in the gallery of the Colorado House, this time for a final vote of passage. 

Ever since then my career has focused on state and local elections because I never want to see another organizer or volunteer working their tail off to make a positive difference in this world and not have the chamber majority they need to get it across the finish line.

This year, Sierra Club Independent Action is focusing on elections in five key states: Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, and Nevada.

Get involved! Find a phone bank shift or sign up for a training to learn more.