Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce: Announces common council endorsements

Contact: Jessica Burda, (608) 443-1952

Endorsed Candidates are Committed to Growing and Retaining Jobs in the Region

Madison – The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) announced today their candidate endorsements for Madison Common Council. With more than 1,600 member businesses in the Madison region, a GMCC endorsement is a powerful validation to a candidate’s knowledge on business and enlightened economic development.

This is the second time the GMCC has made endorsements for the council. In 2007, nine of the 11 endorsed candidates were elected, which is a statistic GMCC President Jennifer Alexander attributes to the winning message of the candidates.

“A major statement was made when an astounding 46 candidates ran for Common Council in 2007,” Alexander said. “Voters were clearly looking for a change and the candidates we endorsed shared that goal to bring a pragmatic approach to issues and focus on policies that are conducive to creating quality jobs to help Madison stay competitive.”

Alexander says the decision to make endorsements again was an easy one. “The positive response from our members and community stakeholders after the last election made it a simple choice,” Alexander said. “This decision was further reinforced when we saw the change in priorities that our candidates brought to the council to improve the business climate.”

The first phase of the endorsement process involved mailing questionnaires to all Common Council candidates. After receiving the completed questionnaires, candidates with similar philosophies on issues important to the business community were invited for endorsement interviews. Members of the GMCC Board of Directors and Small Business Advisory Council participated on the interview panels and made recommendations for endorsement.

GMCC Executive Vice President Delora Newton explained that endorsements were not made in every council race, in some cases because a district has more than one candidate that met the criteria for endorsement.

“A good example would be District 5 where the positions of both Hamilton Arendsen and Shiva Bidar-Sielaff are consistent with GMCC positions,” Newton explained. “In these situations, we did not endorse one particular candidate as both would be good for business. In other races, none of the candidates seeking office would consistently align with our mission.”

In the end, endorsements were given to the candidates who could clearly demonstrate their commitment to work with businesses in their district and create a climate in Madison that fosters quality job creation.

The following candidates received GMCC endorsement:

District 1 – Jed Sanborn

District 3 – Lauren Cnare

District 7 – Steve King

District 9 – Paul Skidmore

District 11 – Chris Schmidt

District 14 – Tim Bruer

District 15 – Larry Palm

District 16 – Judy Compton

District 17 – Joe Clausius

District 18 – Michael Schumacher

District 19 – Mark Clear

District 20 – Thuy Pham-Remmele

The GMCC now plans to educate and promote endorsed candidates to chamber members and the general public. All completed questionnaires are available on the GMCC website (http://www.greatermadisonchamber.com) for residents to learn about candidate positions on business issues.

Alexander expects the message of GMCC-endorsed candidates to resonate with voters.

“Our message is more important now than ever before,” Alexander said. “The economy is on everyone’s mind and we will need leadership at all levels of government to help businesses endure these turbulent times.

“With the candidates we’ve selected for endorsement, we are confident Madison can continue to build upon its nationally-recognized reputation as a great place to live, work, play and do business.”