Calling All Candidates: Here鈥檚 Your Chance To Tell Our Readers Why You Deserve Their Vote
From the U.S. Senate to county councils, Civil Beat is again sending questionnaires to everyone who鈥檚 on a ballot in Hawaii.
Plenty of candidates have no opposition in Hawaii鈥檚 Aug. 10 primary, but they still owe their constituents an explanation of why they鈥檙e running and what they see as the key issues.
That鈥檚 why Civil Beat is hitting the 鈥渟end鈥 button Monday morning on emails to the 279 people running for every office in Hawaii this year, inviting them to complete our question-and-answer surveys.
It鈥檚 a chance for seasoned incumbents and political newcomers alike to say in their own words why they deserve your vote. Sort of like free advertising, except we get to choose the questions.
And when it comes to the 152 candidates for 64 seats in the Legislature, a lot of those questions are about the proposed reforms in state government that never seem to get approved.
After all, the Legislature鈥檚 continued unwillingness to level the playing field when it comes to well-heeled incumbents outspending challengers could certainly be one of the reasons that we have a lot fewer candidates on the ballot this year.
Incumbents will be asked what they鈥檝e already done to help reform state government; challengers will be asked what they are going to do.
The best strategy for even candidates who are unopposed in the primary is to respond to the surveys as soon as possible.
Legislative incumbents, by the way, are notorious for being the most likely to ignore our surveys. During the last election cycle, we named names of the survey scofflaws, and we鈥檒l definitely be doing that again this year.
If they care about voter perceptions, candidates definitely don鈥檛 want to be on that no-show list.
And the sooner they return the surveys, the sooner we can publish them. Then they become internet-searchable as voters start to key in on the races 鈥 and they traditionally hit on our Q&As by the thousands once they start receiving their mail ballots a little more than two weeks before election day.
We try to publish the responses as soon after receiving them as we can, and we鈥檒l generally be rolling out at least five per day. When possible, we鈥檒l publish candidates for the same office simultaneously, and every survey will include links to opponents鈥 surveys if we have them.
After the primary, we鈥檒l begin republishing the Q&As of all the candidates who are advancing to the Nov. 5 general election. So the best strategy for even candidates who are unopposed in the primary is to respond to the surveys as soon as possible.
Post-primary responses will still be published, but that鈥檚 the equivalent of showing up late for a candidates forum and keeping the voters waiting.
If you have questions, or if you’re a candidate who hasn’t received a questionnaire from us in the next few days, email candidate@civilbeat.org.
