Getting Involved in the Center For Transportation Excellence Congressional
Candidate Survey
The CFTE survey seeks candidate views on public transportation.
Public transportation benefits every segment of American society
- individuals, families, businesses, industries and communities
- and supports important national goals and policies. See if your
candidate feels the same way!
Candidates are more likely to respond to requests from people who
live in the district the candidate is seeking to represent -- and
that's where you come in. We need as many people as possible to
contact candidates in their area and ask them to fill out the survey.
Here's how!
Following are details on how to track down candidates, and what
to do once you've found them.:
Identify your district and candidates:
Using your zip-code or last name of a candidate you can identify
the following through the Vote Smart website (www.vote-smart.org):
- Your current Congressional district number and elected officials,
as well as the Senators in your state.
- Who is running for office in those districts (see “Congressional
Candidates”).
Check to see if your candidates have responded:
Go to www.cfte.org/state/responses.asp
and check to see if your candidates have already responded. If not,
go on to the next step.
Ask for a Response: This is the easiest
part of all. Start with the campaign office and ask for a meeting
with the candidate or a staff person to discuss the importance of
public transportation issues to the community. It is generally better
to work through the campaign office as opposed to the Congressional
office as most candidates deal with these types of surveys as a
campaign-specific task. If you aren't able to find a time for an
actual meeting, ask if you can fax or e-mail the questionnaire.
You can download a .pdf version of the survey at www.cfte.org/state/Candidate
Questionnaire 2004.pdf . If you're having trouble tracking it
down, contact info@cfte.org
Note: Don’t be surprised if the candidates indicate they
haven’t received the survey or aren’t familiar with
it. Candidates receive hundreds of these types of surveys during
the course of the campaign. It is always possible that ours has
escaped their notice. That’s where you come in. The important
thing is to get the survey in their hands. When you approach the
candidate, be friendly and helpful. Enthusiasm is contagious - it's
your time to shine!
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