I'm in Seminole County Florida and voting today.

I think I've finished my research on the candidates and then I opened the thread regarding the FL Ag Comm. race and read some comments from members who used other sources than I did and thought maybe I could do some more reading about my candidates.

Where do you all go to do your research? Whom do you trust?

I usually depend on recommendations from the NRA

This one's easy for me. If a candidate is against abortion and gun control, they're probably with me on everything else.

And those get my vote.

Reading the ballot language and what is available on-line is not enough. It's not always what it appears to be in the press. For example, the Clean Missouri ballot initiative sounds good and will get good press but if you look who is behind it and get into the details, it is designed to let the Democrats take control of the re-districting process after the 2020 census. You wouldn't know that by just reading the ballot language.


The best way is to get involved with your local organization. I have served in every board position from President on down at one time or another for the Tesson Ferry Republican organization since the township was formed in 1996. The most challenging was newsletter editor because it was very time consuming.

Most candidates have a website to go to where they post their platforms. This helps a lot but I need more so I try to hear them at their public forums whenever possible. Judgeships are particularly difficult to find info on the candidates. I have a couple of friends that are involved with the local judiciary that I talk to and I trust their judgments.

I often don't vote for positions that I'm unfamiliar with, like school positions. I haven't had a kid in public schools in many decades so I just let the current parents make the decision.

Jim

I start with the state website which will list all the candidates along with links to their campaign website. After I read their positions I google the name + interview and try to watch/read interviews that they have given and see if the carpets match the drapes. i.e. do the positions in interviews match up with what their published position claim?

Then I look at what the candidates are saying about the opponents and google that to see how it stacks up to reality. that was enlightening in the AG race this time.

While searching the internet you will find many different websites that have information. if it is a website you are unfamiliar with, google the website and see who owns the website.

the internet is like an onion, you have to keep peeling back the layers.

I'll look at the candidates' web sites, but try to balance what I read there with what the TV and radio ads say. Of course most of the opponents' "this guy's a bum" ads are twisting facts and taking prior statements out of context - that seems to be particularly bad in some of our state and local races this year - so you have to factor that in too. The other place I look is in the voter's booklet that the state issues before every election; it's mostly the usual "I'm a great guy and my opponent is a fiend" twaddle, but there are also sections that list what other politicians and organizations are endorsing the candidate and (sometimes) where the major campaign donations are coming from - that tells me as much as most of the other rhetoric.

And after all that, sometimes it comes down to "I'll vote for ANYBODY except her!" (that's what the OR Governor's race is looking like at this point).

What spinzone says works for me.
The worst thing about state elections in Fl is their ridiculous method of voting for judges wherein you basically have just a photograph to go by and that is all. I would say that if a state wants its citizens to vote for a judicial candidate then you should be able to at least discover how they have adjudicated in the past, otherwise you are just voting for a face. I don't know how this could be changed but I do not think it is a way to choose any elected official. If you doubt my word, just try to find anything pertinent about these candidates other than where they got their degrees.

Ouijiboard.com

start with the NRA rating

and go from there

but if someone scores poorly in that rating - highly unlikely they can 'win me over' with their position on other issues

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At the risk of sounding cynical, I tend to vote for the candidates who will cost me the least amount of money over their terms. As a socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative independent (do whatever you want as long as no one gets hurt and as long as you don’t ask me to pay for it), I am somewhat resigned to live without representation. I’m both pro-choice and pro-death penalty, so at least I’m consistent, and a politician who opposes any part of the Constitution will not get my vote. For criminal court justices, they can’t get conservative enough for me, but otherwise I tend to gravitate toward the center. Mike Pence and Bernie Sanders both go too far to the extremes for my tastes, as I’m an agnostic (rules out Pence) and I understand both mathematics and basic economics (Bernie’s gone).

I also tend to look at who a candidate’s enemies are. If the NRA and other 2A groups are opposed to them, I will likely agree. On the other hand, a candidate who is opposed by the pharmaceutical, private prison, or insurance industries will likely get my vote. I’ll likely vote for Ted Cruz in November, even though he’s probably a lizard-human hybrid, because (1) he will leave my guns alone and (2) he will likely spend at least 4 of the next 6 years trying to be the next VP or POTUS, so there’s a limit to the damage he can do. I’d have a beer with Beto, and I can appreciate his approach, but 6 years of him would be too expensive (on many levels).

I start with my youngest, who's an Assistant Attorney General (to get the insider's take), then I go from there. Still difficult when it comes to figuring out judges.

quote:

Originally posted by PPinesRon:
.... who's an Assistant Attorney General (to get the insider's take).

dang

its nice to know people

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Thanks everyone! I agree that finding information on judges can be difficult. Fortunately I have a few people I can lean on for inside information there.

It's very easy. I'm surrounded by every type of lefty whacko so I vote for the Indian undergrad brave enough to file papers as a republican. For judges I try to to find info on what they did before they became judges and check their endorsements. My vote is largely a protest vote.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Reading the ballot language and what is available on-line is not enough. It's not always what it appears to be in the press. For example, the Clean Missouri ballot initiative sounds good and will get good press but if you look who is behind it and get into the details, it is designed to let the Democrats take control of the re-districting process after the 2020 census. You wouldn't know that by just reading the ballot language.

AZ initiative writers caught on to this gimmick about 15 years ago. There was one initiative titled "Stop Illegal Immigration", but a careful reading of the language revealed it would actually encourage more illegal immigration.
 

As stated above: abortion and gun control.

I actually never worry about abortion, and rarely even fire my gun. But those are very reliable "Values Compass" issues.

In the current climate, I would vote for whomever is also the most vocal and ardent supporter of President Trump, just to make sure that the Democratic Party is humiliated into disintegration as quickly as possible.