The Jewish Vote: 2025 Endorsement Process

Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) makes endorsements under the name The Jewish Vote.

TIMELINE

  • March 2025: Mayoral Endorsements: Round 1 - JFREJ will endorse a small set of candidates who share our values, and who we are excited to help work to elect. We will continue watching each mayoral campaign throughout the cycle to see how they uphold our shared commitments and use their platform.
  • April 2025: City Council Endorsements & Co-governance meetings with previously-endorsed incumbents.
  • May 2025: Voter Guide & Mayoral Endorsements: Round 2 - We will weigh in on more candidates and release a voter guide with information and rankings, even in races we declined to interview or endorse in.

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STEP ONE / Opening up an Endorsement Process 

JFREJ’s Endorsements & Research Team decides which races to consider for endorsements. Factors we consider include:
 

  • Do we have a base in the district?
  • Do we have the capacity to be involved in this race?
  • Are allied organizations and movements also considering or actively organizing as part of this race?
  • Are there candidates in the race our members are excited to learn more about?
  • Is there a key Jewish role that needs to be played in the race? 
  • Is the office (ex. city council, state legislature, mayor, governor, congress) a position where elected officials have power over the issues JFREJ campaigns on? Is this office a typical target of our organizing?
  • Does endorsing in this race set us up for our strategy in 2026 and beyond?

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STEP TWO / Questionnaire & Interviews

Candidates are invited to apply for our endorsement, by filling out a questionnaire. The Endorsements & Research Team will review questionnaires, and invite selected candidates to join us for a candidate forum. All dues-paying JFREJ members are invited to participate in the candidate interviews.
 

  • Read JFREJ’s 2025 Platform & Endorsement Criteria here.
  • Apply for The Jewish Vote endorsement here.


Note: JFREJ endorsement interviews of mayoral candidates will take place on Thursday, February 27th & Sunday, March 2nd. RSVP to attend here. Interviews for city council candidates will take place later in March and April.

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STEP THREE / Deliberation & Voting

After questionnaires have been submitted and interviews completed, members will deliberate and then vote in a straw poll on the endorsement. To vote in our process, you must be a JFREJ member in good standing and affirm our endorsement principles. The results of the straw poll will be sent to the JFREJ Endorsements & Research Team along with Team Planet (our representative member-leader body) for a final decision.
 

  • For the mayoral race, all dues-paying members can vote in the straw poll. Members are encouraged to participate in endorsement interviews and in our membership assembly, but are not required to.
  • For city council races, only members who participated in the interviews can vote in the straw polls. 

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STEP FOUR / Decision

The final decision on endorsements will be made in collaboration between the JFREJ Endorsements & Research Team along with Team Planet (our representative member-leader body). These two teams have member-leaders from each of our JFREJ issue campaigns, as well as caucuses, neighborhood groups, and the field team. These teams will make the final endorsement decision in accordance with the results of the JFREJ member straw polls, and any additional research provided by the Endorsements & Research team.

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PLEASE NOTE: The above process is for new candidates. For incumbent endorsements, JFREJ’s relevant member-leadership teams (Endorsement & Team Planet) will examine legislators’ records along with the state of the race, and will determine how to proceed. We will skip races where the incumbent doesn’t have a serious challenger, or where we don’t have a large or active base of JFREJ members. We may opt to hold co-governance meetings in lieu of an endorsement interview.

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