When we at Charm City Indivisible issue an endorsement, we always want to be clear that it rests on affirmative support for our endorsed candidate, not simply dislike of their opponent. While our decision to weigh in on a race may be influenced by a clear gap between the candidates, those who ultimately earn our endorsement do so on their own merits, not just as the lesser of two evils. Because of that, we generally refrain from commenting on why an endorsement was not offered to a particular candidate—we’d far rather talk about the strengths of the candidates we choose to endorse than the shortcomings of those we don’t! However, in the case of State Senate District 46, we’re making an exception.
We know this is a contentious race, with strong feelings on both sides—in the electorate and among our own membership—and so we want to be very deliberately transparent about our thought process. We also know, since we’ve mentioned that the incumbent, Senator Bill Ferguson, chose not to participate in our endorsement process, some may believe that we endorsed his opponent “by default,” or that the outcome might have been different had the Senator chosen to engage with us. We write today to correct that impression. […]