With protests against police violence sweeping the country and being met all too often by more police violence, it has been difficult to maintain my usual enthusiasm for spaceship politics. But it’s still very important to vote for CSM and many people have asked me for my recommendations so, better late than never, here’s my ballet for CSM15.

1. Brisc Rubal: Sure to be one of the top Imperium candidates, you may be surprised to see him at the top of my list here. But he’s that damn good! Brisc is softspoken but assertive, knowledgeable but extremely intellectually curious, builds good relationships but has demonstrated his willingness to stand fast against CCP when they’re wrong. He’s also, frankly, extremely professional in his presentation and conduct. When media or potential players think of the EVE playerbase, I want them to see an image of Brisc in their mind.
2. Phantomite: While not 100%, Phantomite seems to be aligned with my thinking on nearly every substantive issue top of mind for EVE right now. From talking to him in prep for our recent candidate panel discussions, it’s downright eerie how close his thinking and positions are to my own. So while I’m not running this year, Phantomite may be the next best thing.
3. Mike Azariah: There has never been a representative more dedicated to the CSM as an institution or to new players as an investment in EVE’s future as Mike. He’s run for office more times than anyone in history and thankfully for all of us he started winning eventually XD  Send him back for another term to represent new players and highsec with responsible leadership that can interact constructively with the rest of a diverse council.
4. Stich Kaneland: The overwhelming internal favorite of the Noir. line pilots, Stitch looks to fill the ever-valuable theorycrafting and balance expert role within the CSM. He has robust PVP experience and knows his ships inside and out. As a plus, he nearly entirely solo-boxes which is an important perspective that often doesn’t get focus on a council consisting of EVE powerusers.
5. January Valentine: I’d be hard pressed to name any other person who has done nearly as much to support, professionalize, and grow EVE podcasting (and podcasts-as-streams) as January Valentine. Her experience as a show producer gives her not only a great information pipeline for player feedback and community sentiment but also the knowhow to assist with CSM communication efforts back to us. Plus: she’s a pretty damn good PVPer. Can’t have enough of those!
6. Gobbins: Without a doubt one of the best alliance leaders in the game, he’s also well respected as such by his peers. I’ve met Gobbins several times IRL and I know he’s worthy of reelection. That said, he’s not higher because he will almost certainly have enough votes to get in without any additional help ;p
7. Torvald Uruz: CSM should definitely not be without a lowsec/FW rep in general, but especially now. And the live streaming community is a key to EVE’s future and should have more of a voice on the council. A prominent streamer and lowsec FC, I caught CCP’s interview with Torvald live and left with the impression he would be an excellent rep for both communities.
8. Darius Caliente: The EVE dream is to form an alliance, go out and take some space more or less on your own, and grow a really cool community identity. Darius is living that dream right now and it’s heartwarming to hear him talk about it.  The perspective mid-sized, independent nullsec alliance communities is made all the more valuable by the usual heavy representation from large alliances and their coalitions.
9. Exookiz: Got the Black Mark Award for Best CSM Rep last year, so simply by popular demand you know I’m putting Exookiz on this list. The only reason he’s not higher is the wormhole community tends to run their candidates in a pseudo primary so he’ll either have enough support to be reelected for them or he wont. But if he needs a nudge over the line, I/we should be glad to provide it to him.
10. Kalen Tsero: The founder of essentially Horde/Karmafleet/Waffles but for wormholes, Kalen brings a similar new player focus as Mike and Gobbins, but from a very distinct and exciting perspective. Also it’s called Weebfleet, alliance Tsundere Triad. So put him on your ballot, but only because we needed someone to fill the last spot. It’s not like we actually want him to win, baka!!!

GO VOTE MY DUDES!!!

Honorable mentions (if one of the above doesn’t sit right with you, consider replacing with these folks)

–Meredith en Thielles: Alliance diplomats traditionally make excellent CSM reps and Meredith is very diplomatic. She also created a live community radio experience for her alliance which is super cool and innovative; CSM could use that creativity.

–Steadyo: You know all those BLOPS buffs and small gang objectives we keep asking for? Steady would be one of the loudest voices on the council to push for them, with the experience to know what he’s talking about.

–Murray Rothbardo: Another newbies-in-nullsec candidate but on a smaller scale than Gobbins/Horde. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; Murray isn’t connected with a coalition but is carving out a fun experience for new players in null anyway.