The national Indivisible organization endorsed Charles Booker in the Democratic primary for Senate on Wednesday, setting off a string of charges and counter-explanations between local Indivisible chapters and the umbrella national group.
The backstory
Of the multiple Indivisible chapters across the state, four decided on their own to endorse Mike Broihier, while one endorsed Booker. The four endorsing Broihier were Indivisible Kentucky (which is the Louisville chapter), Indivisible NKY District 4, Indivisible SE KY, and Pennyroyal Indivisible. Indivisible Danville was the only chapter endorsing Booker. The other chapters decided not to endorse anyone. None of the chapters endorsed Amy McGrath, who is seen as less in line with the philosophy of the organization.
All of the endorsements from the individual chapters came in early May, and all were forwarded on to the national organization as nominations for an endorsement at the national level. Since the groups across the state did not agree on which candidate to endorse, the national organization decided not to endorse either candidate at that time.
We reported the endorsements when they happened, especially the ones of Broihier, which were touted by his campaign as significant. That is where the story ended, until a few days ago.
The Booker endorsement
On Wednesday, June 17, the national Indivisible organization sent out a press release announcing they were endorsing Rep. Charles Booker in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. From their release (PDF):
“Charles Booker is the right candidate to meet this moment because he has a vision for a better Kentucky, where workers can earn a living wage, where healthcare is a human right, and where generational poverty is eliminated,” said Lucy Solomon, IE Political Director for Indivisible. “In the midst of a global pandemic and nationwide protests against racial injustice, we need a nominee who leads with moral clarity and who won’t compromise their values when taking the fight to Mitch McConnell in November.”
…
The historic nature of Charles Booker’s candidacy cannot be overstated. As the youngest Black legislator in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 90 years, Charles has championed progressive legislation on voting rights, labor laws, and racial justice. In the wake of Breonna Taylor’s murder at the hands of police, Charles has been a leading voice demanding justice and uniting those who are ready to see transformative change. Booker is ready to fight for all Kentuckians – white, Black, and brown – and take a stand for the justice and humanity of everyone in Kentucky.
“We admire Representative Booker’s extensive experience fighting for Kentuckians, his policy commitments, and his approach to reaching out across the Commonwealth,” said Charlotta Bright Norby of Indivisible Danville. “We believe he is the right candidate to represent Kentucky in the Senate, and that he is the candidate who can put together the coalition of voters needed to win in November.”
Groups in Kentucky have been eager to defeat McGrath for the nomination, and have been working diligently to support the candidacy of two progressive challengers, Booker and Mike Broihier. Following the groundswell of progressive support for Booker, and after surveying the Indivisible movement in Kentucky, the national organization is thrilled to throw its weight behind Booker ahead of the June 23rd primary.
The backlash
The four groups that endorsed Broihier were quick to react, releasing their own statement via social media.
Also, see Ann Dickerson’s additional statement in the comments.
The national Indivisible process outlined
According to the explanation of the endorsement process at the national level, there is a five-step process for a candidate to be endorsed:
1. Indivisible Group(s) Go Through a Local Endorsement Process
2. Group Submits a Request for National Endorsement
3. Indivisible Team Reviews the Submitted Candidates
Candidates who clear the vetting process and the questionnaire will move to the next round, which is online voting by the local groups in the candidate’s district or state jurisdiction in which they are running.
4. Group Members Sign Up to Be Part of Voting
We will ask everyone on our email list in the district or state in which the election is taking place to vote via email. Group leaders can circulate this form to group members who want to vote on endorsements.
5. Voting Begins
Group members on our email list in the candidate’s congressional district or state will receive an email with the candidates bio/blurb and which groups have endorsed them.
Why aren’t all the candidates included in the email to vote?
The only candidate(s) that will be included on the email will be those that have been locally endorsed by Indivisible groups, nominated for a national endorsement, and have passed our policy questionnaire.
6. The Votes Are Tallied
We consider two factors from the votes:
First, we will only endorse a candidate if 60% or more of Indivisibles who vote online support them;
Second, we will look at the portion of total potential voters who decided to vote to ensure that there’s enthusiasm for the candidate among Indivisibles.
7. Results Are Announced
8. Celebrate the Endorsement Locally
More from national on what happened
We spoke with Lucy Solomon, political director for national Indivisible, to get her side of the controversy.
According to Solomon, when it became clear that the local chapters wanted to endorse two different candidates, the national organization decided not to move forward with either.
Then, over the last few weeks, they saw momentum building for Booker. They decided to put both Booker and Broihier through their vetting process, which included a detailed questionnaire to see how they aligned with Indivisible philosophy. Both candidates passed the vetting process.
Solomon said this was highly unusual. In most races, there is one obviously progressive candidate, and that is who is endorsed. And even in those situations, there is a final vote by members (step 5 above) which is a Yes-No vote: “Should Indivisible endorse this candidate?” As explained above, not only does the candidate have to receive 60% Yes votes, but the number of people voting has to reflect enthusiasm for the candidate.
In this case, though, there were two candidates who could possibly be endorsed. So, the vote was a head-to-head vote between Broihier and Booker. Every Indivisible member in the region (in this case, Kentucky) that is on national’s list of members is sent a link to go vote. Members who are not on their list can sign up to vote. And, local group leaders can share a link to their membership for voting, as well.
The voting process began on Monday and closed at 1:00 PM Eastern time on Wednesday. When the votes were tallied, Booker received 67% of the vote.
Solomon noted that only persons who live in Kentucky were allowed to vote. She also said that even though the four local groups were enthusiastically supporting Broihier, the voting results were clear that more members across the state supported Booker. Based on those results, and on what national perceived as a late-developing Booker surge, they decided to go ahead with the endorsement to help get Booker “over the finish line.”
Concluded Solomon, “In a lot of ways, it’s a good thing that there are two strong progressive candidates in this race.”
When the dust settles
It should be noted that even in the statement released by the four local groups, there is acknowledgement that the overriding objective is to beat Mitch McConnell in the fall. Every person we spoke with said that this disagreement, while obviously significant for all involved, would be put aside once the primary was over.
No matter who wins — Booker, Broihier, or even McGrath — all the Indivisible groups and members will work to get that candidate “over the finish line” in the fall. The goal is still to #DitchMitch.
–30–