Endorsing candidates is an important part of the political process and is a big step towards San Diego County Gun Owner‘s goal of electing only people who respect our Second Amendment rights.
For SDCGO, every day is election season, and the next election is always right around the corner. SDCGO is a unique political organization because we focus entirely on local Second Amendment issues. Because we are unique, it is important to understand the specifics of who, how, and why we endorse.
SDCGO endorses only county and city level candidates. Our voter guide includes state level candidates who have been endorsed by state level organizations because we do not want to duplicate efforts. We concentrate on endorsing candidates for City Council, School Board, County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff, and other local boards like water, fire, etc.
SDCGO’s Criteria for Endorsements:
1. The candidate’s stance on the Second Amendment and Second Amendment issues. Does the candidate oppose gun bans, ammunition registration, carry restrictions, and accessory bans? Does the candidate support issuing carry permits to everyone who can legally own a gun? And will the candidate do more than just say they support the Second Amendment? We want to support people who will actively work to protect and restore our Second Amendment rights.
2. The viability of the candidate’s campaign. By endorsing a candidate, we are asking our members and supporters to donate money and time to a candidate’s campaign. Our endorsement is more than just being on a voter guide, it is access to passionate volunteers and donors. SDCGO will not ask our members to give time and money to a candidate who does not have the proper infrastructure in place to win or has not done enough to raise the money needed to get their message to voters. How much money do they need to win? How many votes will they have to have to succeed? How many volunteers can they organize? Do they know the demographics of their district and what’s important to them?
3. The candidate’s character. Even if a candidate is pro-Second Amendment and has a viable campaign, if they have done something that is serious and verifiable to prove they do not have the character to hold public office, we will not endorse them. How can we trust a candidate to do the right thing on the Second Amendment if they cannot do the right thing personally or professionally?
4. Effectiveness. Even if everything else is in place, if the candidate can’t get the job done on the campaign trail and especially in office, nothing else matters. We want to see a track record of results in business, politics, or as a community leader.
Our vetting process is thorough and unbiased. We dig deep and query with a purpose. SDCGO doesn’t care what political party a candidate is affiliated with, nor do we care where they stand on any other issue.
Second Amendment. Non-Partisan. Single issue. Local.
In our country, the country of the self-governed, voting is a right with enormous responsibility. We make sure we do everything to get it right. After the candidates are vetted, our Board evaluates each candidate and votes. Only those who convince ¾ of the SDCGO Board get our coveted and important endorsement.
If you have a favorite local candidate or are a candidate, please contact us. We want to make sure candidates get our questionnaire and are interviewed by an SDCGO representative. Once a candidate is endorsed, SDCGO will encourage our members to volunteer for and donate to endorsed candidates. SDCGO spends money on behalf of our endorsed candidates to make sure voters show up and vote.
Endorsed or not, SDCGO will continue to reward good behavior by candidates/elected and shine a bright light on bad behavior. The best place for information on elected City Council members is on our website here: https://sandiegocountygunowners.com/citycouncil/
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