The oath Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners take when they are sworn into office. Could your name be printed here next? Image by the author.

On Monday, July 1, 2024, we held our first training of 2024 for District of Columbia residents interested in running for Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats. Thank you to those who attended, and to current commissioners Salim Adofo (8C07), Mark Eckenwiler (6C04), Rev. Wendy Hamilton (8D06), Huma Imtiaz (5E04), Matt Johnson (2B06), Tom Quinn (3E04), and Jeff Rueckgauer (2B02) for joining us to share the insight they’ve gained serving as ANCs.

Wondering whether – or how – to run, but you couldn’t make it on Monday? Take a look at the slides or, better yet, watch the recording below:

Or, if you prefer the live-and-in-person format, you’re in luck!

We’ll be holding a second, in-person training on Sunday, July 14, 2024, at Grand Duchess in Adams Morgan (2337 18th Street NW), from 3–5 pm, followed by a happy hour. This is our standing, bimonthly Mid-City/Near Northwest/Rock Creek West happy hour, reformatted for ANC season. Come through regardless of where you live, and consider joining even if you came to the virtual training; this time, you’ll get to meet other GGWash supporters, current ANC candidates, and potential ANC candidates. As always, agreement with GGWash’s stances is not necessary to attend our trainings or events, and attending this training is not a requirement to be endorsed by us. (See more on our endorsements process below.) Sign up for the July 14 in-person ANC training here.

Ready to run?

Prospective ANC candidates must fill out a declaration of candidacy to run for a seat and, in order to qualify for the November 5, 2024, general election ballot, must submit a nominating petition with 25 valid signatures from their single member district by Wednesday, August 7, 2024. See more information from the Board of Elections here.

We’re happy to give our insight, to the extent that we can, in response to your questions about petitions and campaigning, but contact the Board of Elections or Office of Campaign Finance for an official opinion. Likewise, if you have questions about the mechanics of serving as a commissioner, we’ll share what we can, but you should also contact the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

How GGWash will make ANC endorsements

GGWash has endorsed ANC candidates since 2018. It’s a significant undertaking: There are 346 ANC seats across the District. We really love endorsing ANC candidates, and are excited for the 2024 election.

In prior years, we’ve sent out our questionnaire after the field of ANC candidates has had time to take shape, usually after candidates have submitted their signatures to qualify for the general-election ballot. This year, our questionnaire is available starting now! If you’ve declared your candidacy, you’re welcome to fill it out as soon as you’d like. We will regularly reach out to candidates on file with the Board of Elections, using their on-file email address, with a link to the questionnaire and information about our ANC endorsements process.

Responses are due no later than Sunday, August 11, 2024, at 5 pm. We will be endorsing ANC candidates on a rolling basis, beginning in August, rather than issuing all our endorsements at once. This will, we anticipate, allow us to endorse ANC candidates running write-in campaigns, which we haven’t typically done in the past. We will provide more detail on how we’re handling write-in candidates after candidates seeking ballot access have been confirmed. Our elections committee will function similarly to how it did in the 2024 District primary election; you can find details about the elections committee – including who serves on it – here. If you have any questions about GGWash’s ANC endorsements, or other general-election endorsements, contact DC policy director Alex Baca at abaca@ggwash.org.

Voters, we’ve got you covered

ANC races are notoriously low-information, which means it’s hard for voters to make an educated decision. To counteract that, we’ll provide resources for voters leading up to the general election. Most excitingly, you can expect an updated 2024 version of this interactive tool. All available voter resources will be found in our 2024 Elections Hub.

Want to share your thoughts? We welcome Emails to the Editor in response to news/analysis, opinion, and policy pieces. Learn more.

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Tagged: anc, dc, endorsements, events, politics, voters

Chelsea Allinger (she/her) is GGWash's executive director. Before coming to GGWash in 2021, she spent nearly 15 years working in different capacities on land policy, urban policy, and community development. Outside of GGWash, Chelsea is a doctoral candidate in public policy and public administration at George Washington University. She served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC, from 2019-2023.

Alex Baca is the DC Policy Director at GGWash. Previously the engagement director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the general manager of Cuyahoga County's bikesharing system, she has also worked in journalism, bike advocacy, architecture, construction, and transportation in DC, San Francisco, and Cleveland. She has written about all of the above for CityLab, Slate, Vox, Washington City Paper, and other publications.