Help me figure out how to vote in GA-6!

April 17, 2018 12:47 PM

I am having a difficult time deciding which candidate to vote for in the Georgia 6th District Democratic primary (The former Handel/Ossoff district). All of my searches turn up old articles about that high-profile race last year and there's not a lot that I can find comparing the current candidates. There are four candidates and I've been to their websites, but they are all pretty similar as far as policy goes. And, more generally, how do people research local and state elections? What about ballot initiatives, constitutional amendments, etc?
posted by Fritzle to Law & Government (6 answers total)

Have you checked your local newspaper for interviews with the candidates? You may also want to look at ballotpedia.org for information about state elections.
posted by toastedcheese at 1:12 PM on April 17, 2018

ballotpedia is only really going to list the candidates here - id take a look at endorsements first, and having looked at the campaign pages for each of the candidates it seems like Bobby Kaple has the most significant ones - it is noteworthy that his website is the only one with a dedicated endorsements page. Lucy McBath is interesting, her personal story and connection to issues of racist and gun violence would certainly be a change from most congresspeoples. Some people vote pragmatically with strong consideration of electability, while other people would say that primaries are the time to make a statement about values without regard to practical considerations. Clearly if the candidates either have disagreeable or no answers on policy issues which are important to you, that is the easiest way to whittle down choices.

In my area there are political clubs which would also potentially endorse candidates, its not clear to me if that isn't the case in this race (again I only looked at candidate websites) but that would be another area to explore.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:14 PM on April 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would suggest checking your local Democratic party office or website - usually organized by legislative district, but sometimes by County. Has the party endorsed one candidate or the other? Do you know/trust any of the local party officers? Going to monthly party meetings, although eye-searingly boring at times, is a great way to understand politics at the local level, and to figure out who to trust/vote for.
posted by dbmcd at 2:24 PM on April 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Various organizations will support different candidates and ballot initiatives, etc., so you can think through which organizations would seem to hold views similar to you and check to see what they are supporting. Since you mentioned the Democratic party, you might, for example, see who is supported by local unions/labor organizers, local branches of environmental advocacy groups, and local left-leaning publications. You can also check to see who has endorsements from people you respect.
posted by agog at 2:36 PM on April 17, 2018

When I can't decide between two candidates based on merit, I use representation as a tie-breaker. There are three white male candidates and one candidate who is a female PoC. Vote for Lucy McBath.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:54 PM on April 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Daily Kos has a lot of information about races, both reported and people just freelance spouting off. Here's a story today about GA-06.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:05 PM on April 17, 2018 [1 favorite]