Endorsements

 Piggy-backing off of the surveys, is the important topic of endorsements. I could have received many more endorsements than I did, but I was a minnow swimming up stream and could not hold on to every detail that I needed to. I lost some great opportunities for endorsements, and while that may not have cost me the election directly, any opportunity for exposure and networking is a big deal. These are some of the endorsements I received: 

• Women's Democratic Club (I had to join the club and fill out a survey to receive the endorsement). I received $500, weekly newsletter emails, and a spotlight in one of the weekly emails. 
• Education First (I had a zoom interview with 3 of their members). I received $2000 and offers of help in other ways (billboard, written letter to important people, etc.). The $2000 came at the beginning of my fundraising and they literally doubled the amount of money I had raised. It was amazing. I started the interview with them in my car and they watched my hobble out of my car with crutches and were quite impressed. I dropped the ball in my contact with them and didn't get a billboard or the letter. 
• Equality Utah (I had to fill out a survey and then interview with members of their team). I received $1000 and social media advertising with their group. I actually got to meet more team members when they did a training at our Utah Teacher Fellow convening in October. This is a group doing really incredible things. I definitely want to stay involved!
• UEA (I had to fill out a survey and interview with their board). I received $1000 and a list of UEA members in my district (very helpful!). This one was complicated because my opponent also received an endorsement from them because she is also a member of UEA. We were the only district where both of us were endorsed. I wonder if that made a difference or not. 
• Run for Something (I had to submit a survey). This is a national group that provides campaign support and coaching to beginning candidates. They have a lot to offer mentorship-wise, but since I had a full time campaign team, I didn't feel like I really needed their endorsement or that I utilized their resources. 
• League of Women Voters (I filled out a survey). This survey wasn't really for an endorsement as much as information for voters. I filled out the survey and never really heard from them again. Several candidate friends of mine told me that they are a well-respected group and I would want to fill it out so that I'm on the list and people can look me up. 
• Utah Parents for Teachers (I filled out a survey). This group is an online community (yay for Facebook groups!) that support teachers and education. I wanted to make sure I was thoughtful in my responses here because a lot of community members reading this survey could be in my voting district. 
• Utah Alliance Coalition (I filled out a survey). This is a grassroots group with some wonderful individuals who have supported me from the very beginning. They invited me to a bbq back in May 2022 when I was just starting this campaign thing. I truly had no idea what I was doing then and hadn't yet connected with my campaign team. They shared a lot of my content online and were staunch supporters. 
• O2 Utah (I was connected with the director and we had a brief phone call). This group knocked doors for me and another candidate once and it just warmed my heart. I really want to get more engaged with groups like this moving forward (even though I'm not an elected official). 

One endorsement I missed out on was Utah Tech Leads and that felt like a big mistake. I don't know if I never received the survey or saw it and ignored it because I had received so many I was burned out, but they are a really great group that seemed to have a lot of clout. 

Endorsements are a weird piece of campaigning. They are so necessary, but you also don't get trained on how to get them, how to organize them, how to utilize them and follow through, etc. It's an area I would tighten up if I ran again.

(Here's an example of a social media endorsement picture!)