Welcome to the Monday, February 6, Brew.
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- 6,087 candidates responded to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey last year
- An update on elected officials banned from major online platforms
- Voters in Burlington, Vermont, to decide on ballot measures related to policing, ranked-choice voting, noncitizen voting, and more
Have a minute and an opinion? Take our 2023 reader survey!
6,087 candidates responded to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey last year
If you’re a regular Daily Brew reader, then you’ve likely seen us reference our Candidate Connection survey. The survey helps voters better understand how their candidates think about the world and how they intend to govern—information that helps voters make informed decisions.
We recently released our annual report on the survey, so let’s take a look at some of the noteworthy statistics and respondents from 2022.
A total of 6,087 candidates completed the survey, including candidates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Ninety-two of these candidates were part of Balloptedia’s effort to collect surveys from local candidates beyond Ballotpedia’s core coverage scope. The remaining 5,995 candidates represent 19.1% of the 31,452 candidates we covered in 2022. In 2018, the first year we offered our survey in its current form, 1,957 candidates responded, or 6.9% of the 28,315 candidates we covered that year.
In 2022, Ballotpedia covered 527 elections in which all of the candidates participated in our survey. That’s up from 2020, when 356 elections had all candidates participating. In 2018, 39 elections saw full candidate participation.
This year also had more candidates in contested elections taking our survey. In 2022, 5,751 candidates in contested elections took the survey, or 21.6% of all candidates in contested races. That’s up from 4,593 candidates in 2020, or 19.3% of candidates in contested elections. In 2018, that figure was 1,156 candidates, or 4.7%.
So, who are these candidates? What offices are they seeking?
We got the most responses from Texas, with 547. California and North Carolina were a close second, with 524 and 313 respondents, respectively.
Candidates for state legislative office made up the greatest percentage of respondents at 49%, followed by congressional candidates at 24%. In 2022, 18.8% of all state legislative candidates responded to the survey, up from 17.4% of all state legislative candidates in 2020.
A total of 1,101 candidates, or 18.1% of all respondents, won their elections. In 2020, 15.7% of all respondents won their elections, while in 2018, 24.4% of respondents won.
Here’re some notable survey respondents from last year:
Trey Allen (R): Allen completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey during his run for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. He defeated the incumbent, Justice Sam Ervin IV (D), in the general election 52.2% to 47.8%.
When asked what areas of public policy he was personally passionate about, Allen said: “My views on matters of public policy are not relevant to my campaign for a seat on the NC Supreme Court. The authority of the judiciary ultimately rests on the public’s confidence that the courts base their rulings on the facts and the law. If elected to the NC Supreme Court, I will not allow my policy preference or political opinions to influence my decisions.”
Jasmine Crockett (D): Crockett completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey during her run to represent Texas’ 30th Congressional District. She defeated Republican candidate James Rodgers and three other candidates in the general election, earning 74.7% of the vote.
When asked what areas of public policy she was personally passionate about, Crockett said:
“As a civil rights & criminal defense attorney, I am absolutely passionate about the inequities that I see, in general, and am deeply concerned about the constitutional rights of people that are seemingly being stripped away. Specifically, I am passionate about the criminal justice system, education, housing, jobs, healthcare, voting rights, reproductive rights, and climate injustices.
Robert Luna: Luna completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey during his run for Los Angeles County Sheriff in California. He defeated the incumbent, Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who also completed the survey, in the nonpartisan general election 61.3% to 38.7%.
When asked what areas of public policy he was personally passionate about, Luna said:
“As Sheriff and senior manager for more than ten thousand deputies, I will improve the working conditions within LASD by eradicating deputy gangs and providing wellness programs to deputies and employees. With more than three decades of police experience, I have seen first-hand that the personal needs of law enforcement officers and employees go ignored too often, which leads to negative consequences.”
Carolyn Weems: Weems completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey during her run for the Bayside District 4 seat on the Virginia Beach school board. Weems defeated Erika Guess in the nonpartisan general election on Nov. 8, 2022.
When asked what areas of public policy she was personally passionate about, Weems said:
“… I lost my daughter to opioid addiction after she became addicted after a sports injury. I am passionate about educating the public and students about the dangers of prescription drugs. I have been successful in getting this messaging into the Family Life Education curriculum in our schools but we must do more. I am leading an effort to create a ‘recovery school’ that would provide students with the necessary resources to get treatment for their addiction while also continuing to get an education.”
Learn more about these candidates in our new report, which features the respondents who won their elections and lists all of the 6,087 candidates who sent in answers.
An update on elected officials banned from major online platforms
At least seven elected officials were suspended and/or banned from either Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube while in office from May 10, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2023. YouTube’s indefinite suspension of former President Donald Trump (R) is the only suspension that remains in place.
All the suspended officials we’ve tracked are Republicans.
YouTube suspended Trump’s account following comments he made during a news conference on Jan. 12, 2021.
Twitter and Facebook also suspended Trump’s accounts. Twitter lifted Trump’s permanent suspension on Nov. 19, 2022, while Facebook lifted Trump’s suspension on Jan. 25. As of Feb. 3, 2023, Trump has not yet posted new content to either Twitter or Facebook.
Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) was the only other elected official in the U.S. to receive a permanent suspension on a social media platform while in office. Twitter reinstated her account on Nov. 21, 2022.
The other officials either temporarily or banned (but since lifted) while in office were Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.), and Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain (R).
The most common reason the officials we track were suspended were:
- Violating the platform’s COVID-19 medical misinformation policy (six suspensions).
- Potentially inciting violence (four suspensions).
- Posting about alleged 2020 election fraud (four suspensions).
Voters in Burlington, Vermont, to decide on ballot measures related to policing, ranked-choice voting, noncitizen voting, and more
We’ve talked a lot about the statewide measures voters will decide in 2023. Some voters, though, will also decide local measures this year. We cover local ballot measures within the 100 largest cities in the U.S., within state capitals, and throughout California.
Burlington, Vt., is one jurisdiction with upcoming ballot measure elections on March 7.
The city council placed the following measures on the ballot:
- A charter amendment that would allow non-citizens who are legal residents to vote in municipal and school board elections
- A charter amendment that would require voters to be residents of a ward or city district if casting a ballot for certain local officers or local public questions, and to provide that the city council determines the number and location of polling places in each ward
- A charter amendment that would redistrict city election boundaries
- A charter amendment that would require ranked-choice voting for mayor, school commissioners, and ward election officers
- A measure that would implement a carbon pollution impact fee starting for “new construction buildings that install fossil fuel thermal energy systems,” and for existing commercial and industrial buildings that have installed fossil “fuel thermal energy space conditioning or domestic water heating systems”
These citizen initiatives are also on the ballot:
- A charter amendment that would establish an independent board to investigate, hear complaints, and impose discipline regarding a police officer’s conduct.
- A charter amendment that would provide citizens the ability to initiate ballot questions and repeal ordinances by majority vote and place the issue directly on the ballot, rather than requiring city council and mayoral approval to be placed on the ballot.
You can read more about Burlington’s measures below.