“Get out the vote!”
That’s our rallying cry across rural North Carolina. Our members will be busy this year helping register small-town voters, knocking on doors, and making sure that our neighbors know how and where to cast their ballots.
While an important tool, voting isn’t the end all be all of our work. We want to build power with poor and working-class folks all across North Carolina. That’s why at Down Home, we aim to make sure that the people we help elect work for us.
We call this “co-governance.” Down Home members organize together to hold government accountable to our needs.
We do this in three ways:
We Build a Working People’s Platform
Down Home members work together to survey our communities, host listening sessions, and learn about our neighbors’ needs. We then take this information, research policy, and create a political platform that we use to guide our work.
We Elect Candidates Who Will Work for Working People
Down Home members use the Working People’s Platform to interview candidates running for office from the local county commission and school board up to the governor’s office. Members in local Down Home chapters vote on which candidates to endorse and then work hard knocking on doors and spreading the word to get those candidates elected.
When there isn’t a candidate who will represent working people, we run for office ourselves.
We Hold Our Elected Leaders Accountable
Down Home members work alongside the candidates we help elect and make sure they are held accountable for poor and working people’s needs. We regularly attend board meetings, make public comment, meet with our local elected officials, and bring policy proposals and ideas to our local government.
