PAC / CCE
Committee of Continuous Existence
Endorsement plus PAC/CCE contribution - This is the highest level of endorsement and is given only to those candidates who support all of our issues and will take a leadership position on those issues if elected.
Endorsement only - This level requires support for all of our issues even though the candidate may not take a leadership position of one or more of our issues.
Support - A candidate who is good on all of our issues but won't take a leadership role, or is good on most of our issues but has a problem with one or two.
Recommend -
A candidate who is good on a few
of our issues, but will not be a leader, or a candidate who is not very
good on our issues but is significantly better than their opposition.
(from National Organization for Women)
As NOW advocates for women's rights, electing feminists is a crucial part of our strategy. In 1997, the national NOW Political Action Committees (PACs) launched the Victory 2000 - The Feminization of Politics campaign with the aim of electing 2,000 feminist candidates at all levels of political office by the year 2000. This campaign builds on our decades of electoral work which has increased the presence and clout of candidates who support women's rights.
Unique Work of NOW PACs
NOW PACs' electoral work offers distinct benefits to both the candidates and the causes we support--as well as to the people who contribute to them.
- NOW PACs can rely upon the members of the largest grassroots feminist organization in the country. Activists in NOW's 550 local chapters work with candidates for election to every level of government. In 1996 alone, NOW PACs endorsed more than 700 women's rights candidates throughout the U.S.
- NOW PACs are using innovative strategies to help candidates break through the political glass ceiling.
- NOW PACs target states and districts where feminist candidates flood the ticket at all levels, and activists mobilize support for all of them in one coordinated campaign. We also recruit and endorse strong feminists early in their political careers, recognizing that a candidate may have to run more than once to win.
- NOW is a nonpartisan, feminist political force. NOW PACs endorse all candidates who take uncompromising stands on our issues--women and men of any political affiliation.
Rigorous Criteria
In addition to recommendations from state and local NOW chapters, NOW PACs base their endorsements on a broad feminist agenda. No other PAC expects its candidates to take strong stands on such a wide range of issues. These issues include, but are not limited to:
- reproductive freedom without restriction
- civil rights for all people--with emphasis on lesbian and
- gay rights and racial justice
- moving women out of poverty through empowering,
- non-punitive welfare policies
- a constitutional amendment that guarantees women equality, reproductive rights and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation affirmative action ensuring equal opportunity for women and people of color
- ending violence against women
After the elections, NOW follows up with the officials that NOW PACs helped elect to make sure they are meeting these commitments.
The efforts of NOW PACs across the U.S. have helped candidates win!
"When I ran for U.S. Senate back in
1992, NOW was the only organization to support [me] from the beginning.
When others were looking at the poll numbers, NOW/PAC was looking at
the content of my candidacy ... and with the power of its grassroots
statewide network, became the field organization that made my victory
possible."
- Senator Carol Mosely-Braun, D-Ill., the first
African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate
"When I dared to think about running
for Congress, while everybody was laughing at the idea, NOW was there
with volunteers and money and expertise. Thank you very much."
-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., the first
African-American woman elected in a majority white district in the South
Political
Action Committee Questionnaire Forms
Questionnaires can be sent to: PAC Committee
