By Paul R. Pace
A strong majority of the candidates the NASW Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE) committee endorsed were elected to the 118th Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, with help from field organizers in five battleground states.
PACE is the political action arm of NASW. As a political action committee, PACE endorses and can financially contribute to candidates from any party who support NASW’s policy agenda.
The National PACE board of trustees endorses candidates running for U.S. House and Senate seats. Of the 112 congressional endorsements, there were 81 wins and 31 losses.
See the full list of endorsed candidates.
Leading up to the midterm elections, NASW urged social workers to vote and to help their clients learn the importance of casting their ballots. The association worked in collaboration with national voter mobilization organizations, including Voting is Social Work.
NASW-PACE builds political power for social workers through field organizers mobilizing NASW members to vote as well. NASW funded field organizers in the 2022 battleground states of Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Among the
field organizers was
Oliver Wink
(pictured at right), who organized voting efforts in Wisconsin and later in the Georgia runoff election.
“With the help of our state’s members, chapter staff, and interns, as well as our universities and organizations, we effectively provided information and support to various communities regarding this election’s importance,” Wink said in a blog post sent to NASW. “In doing so, we were able to supply hundreds of constituents across the
state with the knowledge and encouragement they needed to head to the
polls with confidence.”
Field organizer Darrah Thomas worked in Colorado.
“As my first position after graduating with my MSW,
I was able to put some of the skills I learned from my classes and field placements into practice,” Thomas said. “I also was in a unique position to bridge the gap for many students in what was a large part of my role — school outreach.”
Thomas (pictured at right) presented to BSW and MSW students across the state about the importance of being civically engaged as a social worker, educating them on how political issues affect the social work profession, what NASW does to advocate for social workers, and how students can get involved.
“Additionally, I was able to interact with many students while tabling at school events, and even had some students help volunteer with some of our chapter’s actions,” Thomas said in a blog post sent to NASW.
“With the help of member volunteers, NASW-Colorado was able to spread the word about getting registered to vote and voting, both chapter and national PACE endorsements, and general voter information through social media campaigns, phone banks, and text banks, as well as a CEU workshop,” Thomas said.
“In the end, I believe our members and social work students truly made a difference in the election this year, and we are grateful for the support from national PACE.”
Learn about NASW's efforts to increase voter participation.