40-plus candidates in 17 races: What we learned recommending candidates in Texas primaries
Our Editorial Board has just finished the latest round of candidate recommendations we offer.
We weighed in on 17 Republican and Democratic primaries for state and county offices. We invited dozens of candidates for those offices to interview with us, and more than 40 did.
Some wonder why we do endorsements at all. Why should anyone listen to what we have to say, anyway?
Our goal is to serve our readers, period. We know you’re busy and don’t have the time or access to dive deep into the many races on your ballot. We use our collective experience in covering public policy and politics to evaluate candidates’ qualifications, policy positions and answers in interviews. Then, we offer our best judgment.
Thanks to the wonders of Zoom, each of our interviews is recorded, and they’re all available for you to watch if you want to really dig into a race.
We know some readers scoff, particularly at the idea we’re telling them what to do. That’s not our intention. We want to be helpful, and even if that means, as one reader told me, you use our recommendations to figure out who to vote against, we’re glad to have been useful.
The process is a lot of work, but it inspires and energizes, too. For all the cynicism and anger in our politics, most people running for office are doing so for the right reasons. They hold passionate beliefs, and they are genuinely interested in public service. For every crank or gadfly running on a lark, there are several well-meaning, talented candidates.
We always try to take stock of trends in our interviews, without overreading the sample we’re working with. This year, some leap off the page — for instance, Republicans are focused on election security, even in offices that don’t have much to do with it.
Others are more subtle, such as the split among progressive and more moderate Democrats. Often, it’s seen more in approach or language than policy positions, but the divide on the left is on its way to being as pronounced as that on the right.
This is a busy election year, and we’ll be right back at it soon for May’s municipal elections and primary runoffs. We can’t get to every contested race, but we’ll evaluate as many as we can.
Thank you, subscribers, for enabling us to do this work. If you don’t subscribe but you’d like to take advantage before Election Day, sign up here and you’ll have access to each of our recommendations on our website.
Editor’s note: A version of this column originally appeared in our opinion newsletter, Worth Discussion. It’s delivered every Wednesday with a fresh take on the news and a roundup of our best editorials, columns and other opinion content. Sign up here.
