What we’re doing with DC election endorsements and ads

The race to replace (or, if he doesn’t run, succeed) Jack Evans as the Ward 2 member of the DC Council is in high gear, and the Greater Greater Washington Elections Committee is working to inform you about the candidates and their positions. GGWash will also be running advertising from candidates. I wanted to fill in readers on these programs, our policies, and how GGWash will be involved in this election.

The Elections Committee

First, our Elections Committee has the power to decide what our endorsements will be. The Ward 2 committee includes Alex Baca, from our staff, and seven volunteers: Andrew Dupuy, Erica Flock, Dominic Ritchey, Mark Rodeffer, Stephanie Tulowetzke, and Jeremy Welsh-Loveman.

Other volunteers made up the Elections Committee earlier this year and last year, as we did endorsements in races in Maryland, Virginia, and DC. The team working on this spring’s Virginia primary included Gillian Burgess, Andrew Dupuy, Mary Hynes, David McAuley, Canaan Merchant, Mike O’Neill, and Joanne Tang. I led those efforts from the staff side, but Alex will be managing upcoming races.

We also have a policy about election activity by staff and volunteers. For the Elections Committee, members who are active in covering and/or deciding endorsements for a race can’t personally endorse, donate to, or volunteer for any candidates in that race until a GGWash endorsement is decided, at which time they’re free to do anything they want.

The Ward 2 group has sent all candidates a questionnaire and received responses from all candidates except for Yilin Zhang, who just announced and got a copy of the questionnaire. Very soon, they will publish responses and get your feedback, watch Thursday’s candidate forum and other campaign events, then decide if they have enough information to make an endorsement.

The committee plans to cover and make endorsements in less crowded DC races on the ballot next year, like council seats in wards 4, 7, and 8 and at-large, after the new year.

Advertising

Separately, Jane Green, who manages our advertising and other revenue programs, has reached an agreement with at least one candidate to run ads on the site. We see this as similar to newspapers which might have ads from candidates and also have an editorial board which might make endorsements, but the two are kept strictly separate.

To ensure that there is no conflict, we have not told the Elections Committee who is advertising (though they may see, of course), or the status of any conversations with other candidates. The committee was not a part of any decisions about the advertising program.

Jane will not be talking with the Elections Committee about their thinking and won’t be privy to any information about that, nor will she be giving the Elections Committee any opinions. For my part, I am both not directly involved in the ads and also not participating in endorsements. I have donated to one candidate and hosted a meet and greet, though I am open to supporting other candidates, and will not be influencing either the ads process or the endorsement decisions.

I hope this is helpful in clarifying our process. Please feel free to post questions in the comments.