Best sources for candidate research

[Anonymous]

I live in Ward 4 and we don't have as many races so I've been lazy about getting informed.

Other than visiting the candidates own web sites, is there any place that synthesizes views or at least offers some sense of what each person stands for and wants?

[jsteele]

I haven't seen as many voter guides as in past elections. In Ward 4 -- in which I also live -- there are very few choices. Our ballot will have the following:

Delegate to the US House of Representatives: Eleanor Holmes Norton vs a few perennial challengers.

Mayor: Muriel Bowser vs a few minor candidates

Chairman of the Council: Phil Mendelson vs Ethan Bishop-Henchman

At-Large Member of the Council: This is the only competitive race and I'll come back to it.

Attorney General: Karl Racine vs Joe Henchman

Shadow Senator: Michael Brown vs Eleanor Ory

Shadow Representative: Franklin Garcia is unopposed

ANC Commissioner: this will be specific to your precinct.

The At Large seat has these candidates:

Ralph J. Chittams, Sr. - Republican
David Schwartzman - DC Statehood-Green
Rustin M. Lewis - Independent
Dionne Reeder - Independent
Anita Bonds - Democratic
Elissa Silverman - Independent

You get to vote for two. Bonds is considered a likely winner because she is a Democrat so realistically, the competition will be for the second seat. The two most competitive candidates (after Bonds) are Reeder and Silverman. The primarily differ on the issue of Paid Family Leave. Silverman sponsored the bill which is now law. Reeder is a business woman with an interesting resume and personal story. She opposes paid leave. Mayor Bowser is strongly opposed to Silverman due to the paid leave bill (which Bowser didn't sign, but which became law without her signature) and because she considers Silverman to be "caustic". Bowser has also said that Silverman is focused on a national agenda rather than a local one. At any rate, Bowser originally supported another candidate who didn't get on the ballot. As a result, Bowser has thrown her support behind Reeder.

It should be pretty easy to find information from a variety of sources about the At Large candidates, though you could make things even easier by limiting your research to Reeder, Bonds, and Silverman.

If you are interested in my own personal view of the race, you can see my endorsement of Silverman here:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2018/10/08/silverman2018

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much! This is very helpful.

I've debated how much energy to focus on figuring out the stances of those with very (very) low likelihood of success so for now will focus on the at large race and my ANC commissioner.