March 1, 2019
The Pipeline Initiative: Key Findings from 2018 Candidate Survey
The Pipeline Initiative engaged Hart Research to direct a multiphase research project to study the experiences of progressive candidates who ran for local office in 2018 with the goal of improving efforts to effectively recruit and support these “pipeline” candidates in the future. The universe for this research was the product of lists provided by 12 strategic partners and included an online survey among 777 candidates, followed by a series of 20 qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs). Please note the sample for the research reflects the contributing partner groups and their respective missions and organizing efforts; because there is no single defined universe of progressive local candidates who ran in 2018 to use as a model, the data have not been weighted.
On behalf of the Pipeline Initiative and Hart Research, we would like to reiterate our sincere thanks to the partner organizations and especially the individual candidates who made this research possible. It is our hope and expectation that the valuable insights we have gained from these extraordinary and inspiring 2018 candidates will be used to help the progressive community build the infrastructure and capacity to recruit and support strong candidates up and down the ballot in 2019 and beyond.