Before each election, associations go through a process to determine which political candidate they will endorse. The Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS® (NEFAR) is no different; the association is in the process of choosing candidates to endorse and support throughout their campaign and possible election to office. Realty/Builder Connection staff writer Michele Gillis talked with Nancy Garcia, NEFAR’s governmental affairs director, to find out the process for endorsing candidates.
Question: How does the process work?
Answer: Upcoming elections within the NEFAR jurisdiction are tracked by our Government Affairs Department. Candidate lists are compiled and once the qualifying period for an election is over, each candidate facing opposition in a race is sent a letter of invitation to interview with the committee. All qualified candidates in a race are invited to participate. Candidates are required to complete a preliminary questionnaire and are asked to submit a personal resume. In most cases, all candidates in a particular race will be interviewed on the same day. On the day of the interviews, the committee convenes prior to meeting with the first candidate to review questions and candidate packets. Candidates are scheduled for 15-20 minute individual interviews. The committee allows each candidate a two minute opening statement and then each member asks the candidate a question from a predetermined question list. Candidates are allowed two minutes to respond to each question.
Q: What type questions are asked of the candidates?
A: The candidates are asked a series of questions about real estate issues. The questions may be centered on national or statewide issues such as smart growth or they may focus on local issues such as sign ordinances. The committee may also ask questions to determine the viability of a candidate’s campaign. Incumbent candidates may also be asked questions about their previous voting history on real estate related legislation. All candidates in a race must be asked the same questions in order to evaluate the candidates based on the same information and to promote fairness.
Q: Who asks the questions?
A: We recruit people to participate in screening process. I use as many as I can get. Generally, what I will do is schedule a whole day at a time to screen candidates.
Depending on how many candidates there are, I will schedule interviews over a few days. I get the volunteers here at 8:30 a.m. and they start interviewing, break for lunch and leave at 5 p.m. They take notes of what the person said and discuss their answers with members of the group to keep it fresh in their mind when deciding who to choose.
Q: When is the
decision made?
A: The decision is made the same day. One of the requirements is that the same group of volunteers will interview all of the candidates for a specific office. That way, you don’t have people voting on a decision who have not spoken to all the candidates.
Q: What can someone interested in screening do to prepare?
A: We are having a training session for people who want to screen candidates on Jan. 27. Nick Bokone, director of political activities from the Florida Association of REALTORS®, is coming in to teach a course on screening candidates.
Q: What happens after the interview?
A: Once all candidates in a race are interviewed, the committee members convene to discuss the candidates and decide which candidate, if any, would best represent the real estate industry in the elected position. The committee votes on whether to recommend NEFAR support for a candidate to the board of directors and how much, if any, RPAC (REALTORS® Political Action Committee) funding to recommend for the candidate.
Q: What happens once the screening committee votes on a candidate?
A: The candidate screening committee’s recommendations are subject to approval by the NEFAR board of directors. The board may approve the recommendation as submitted, amend the recommendation by changing the recommended amount of RPAC funding or, in some cases, deny the recommendation and recommend another candidate. In the case of a candidate for national offices, NEFAR’s recommendation is sent to the National Association of REALTORS®. The NAR RPAC trustees make the final decision for funding for national candidates. For statewide candidates, NEFAR’s recommendations are sent to FAR. The FAR RPAC trustees make the final decisions for funding for statewide candidates.
Q: When will you announce who you are endorsing in the mayoral election?
A: We will screen those candidates in the races in early February. After the board of directors approves the endorsement, then we would go public with it. The decision will probably come out after Feb. 18.
Q: What should a candidate do to be noticed by NEFAR? How can they get in front of NEFAR board members?
A: If a candidate wanted to meet members, they could get a REALTOR® to take them to a meeting as a guest, but that doesn’t influence the endorsement process. Take the mayor’s race, each one of those candidates knows at least one or two REALTORS®. The decision is based on their answers and positions on real estate issues, not how popular they are with the realtors®.
Q: Do you invite all candidates to
luncheons or just
the ones you endorse?
A: Generally what we do once our endorsements are out is to contact the person who was endorsed and invite them to come to our lunch. It’s an opportunity for them meet the members maybe pick up a few more votes as well as to hear from the REALTORS® about issues affecting them.