Advisory Neighborhood Commissions · Washington DC
Run where you live.
The seat on your block is winnable. We're the team that has your back. From the first form to Election Day.
From curious to candidate
Find your seat
Take the readiness check and look up your single-member district by address.
Should you run? → 2Learn the ropes
Three core lessons in English or Spanish. Learn what an ANC is and who's eligible and how to get on the ballot. Track your progress at your own pace.
Enter Campaign Copilot → 3Get on the ballot
We help you move from interest to action. Step-by-step guidance covers eligibility and petitions. It also covers campaign planning and voter outreach plus messaging and Election Day prep.
Start your plan →Small office. Real power.
Care about housing or safer streets or a fairer liquor license next door? This is where it starts. A commissioner represents about 2,000 neighbors. By law DC must give an ANC's written positions "great weight." You don't issue permits, you move the decisions. The role is unpaid and nonpartisan and runs two years. Many balance it with a full-time job. Commissioners have won crosswalks. They've saved beloved venues and started mutual-aid networks. It won't run your life. It will change your neighborhood.
- 345single-member districts across 46 ANCs
- ~2,000neighbors in a district
- 25signatures to qualify (collect 50+)
- $0filing fee to run
Three parts. One run.
A short quiz that ends with your seat and proof it's winnable.
Your petition and plan and deadlines from first form to Election Day.
Hosts and nominators and crew: neighbors recruiting neighbors.
Your block needs someone.
55 districts had no candidate last time. Adopt one →
Send a nudge
The strongest candidates are usually asked. Queer and trans neighbors get asked least. Being the person who asks is how a seat gets filled. We’ll send them one warm nudge for you.
LGBTQ+ rights are under attack. Our answer is older than any attack: we look out for each other, and we build together. This is how we fight back — not just marching past the buildings where decisions get made, but taking seats inside them. Block by block. Neighbor by neighbor. This is what building power looks like.
Local office is where representation becomes tangible. Queer and trans commissioners bring lived experience into the decisions that shape a neighborhood. Think housing and development. Think nightlife and public safety and public space. They build the bench for what comes next.
You won't be alone.
Running where you live shouldn't mean standing exposed. We plan for your safety the way we plan your petitions. A safety kit built for queer and trans candidates, baked into the plan from day one.
| On your own | With Queering ANCs |
|---|---|
| Find out ANCs exist, then which seat is yours | 60 seconds: your seat, and proof it's winnable |
| Decode the DCBOE petition packet | Step-by-step guidance for the DCBOE pickup + a signature tracker |
| Build a plan and hold it while scared and visible | A plan back-timed to Aug 5 that also schedules your rest |
| Be visible with no protection | A safety kit built for queer and trans candidates |
| Do it alone | A cohort and mentors, plus check-ins to Election Day |
| Win once, then figure out what's next | A bench that keeps electing you upward |
The backup isn't abstract: nationally about a third of LGBTQ+ candidates report online threats (Victory Institute/LMU 2026). We're the only program that plans for it.
The most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline in the country: one city and 345 neighborhood seats. Every tool and lesson and hand a first-time queer candidate needs — free and built to be copied. We're not waiting for representation to trickle down. We're building the bench from the block up — and setting the model for how candidate-support organizations can do this everywhere.
Get involved
Bring your neighbors together.
Change starts in living rooms. The right candidate lives on your block already: next door, in your building, down the street. Host a night with your neighbors and help us find them.
Support from interest to Elected
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Interest
A cohort and mentors who've already done it
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Petition
Step-by-step guidance and a signature tracker
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Campaign
A safety kit and a plan that schedules your rest
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Election Day
Capital Stonewall Democrats behind your name
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Elected.
Twenty-five signatures. No fee.
Petitions open July 6. The deadline to file is August 5. If you win, you're sworn in January 2, 2027.
See if you should run55 seats had no one on the ballot last time.
In the press
We build this together
These organizations helped contribute to our program.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be a U.S. citizen?
You may be eligible to run even if you are not a U.S. citizen. DC lets many non-citizen residents register and vote in local elections. Confirm your eligibility with the D.C. Board of Elections.
How much time does it really take?
ANC service is a part-time public role. Expect monthly meetings and constituent follow-up plus some committee work. Many commissioners balance it with a full-time job. The busy stretches are petitioning and the fall campaign to November in a contested race. You can run as crew if this cycle is too full.
Is it safe to be this visible?
You set the pace on how public you are. Your identity doesn't have to be the campaign. The portal covers digital safety, and you'll have peers in the cohort who've navigated it.
One honest thing to know up front. When you file to run, the DC Board of Elections makes some things a matter of public record: your full legal name and the home address on your voter registration and your filing contact. That's the law for everyone who appears on a ballot, not us sharing it. We tell you exactly what becomes public before you file. We help you prepare and point you to dcboe.org for questions or options about your address. More in our privacy policy.
Do I need money to run?
There's no filing fee, and many ANC campaigns spend close to nothing. If you do raise or spend, contributions are capped at $25 per contributor and you file OCF Form 18 within 60 days.
What if I'm not sure I'm ready?
Take the readiness check. It's honest, not a gate. There's a place for you whether you run or help someone else win or join the next cohort.
Capital Stonewall Democrats
Power the next out commissioner.
Training queer candidates and building these tools takes real money. If this moved you, chip in. Every gift keeps it free for the people who need it most.