Each year as election time nears, I take some time to research the candidates. There are a number of great resources – probably one of the most detailed is the candidate questionnaire provided in the county League of Women Voters Voter Information Bulletin.
The LWV survey asks a few specific questions and I encourage you to review their responses, but I wanted to get a more general feel for their overarching mindset – a better glimpse into how they are likely to make decisions as they serve.
This is the list of questions I posed to each of them:
Personal Issues
- Government should not censor speech, press, media, or internet.
- Military service should be voluntary. There should be no draft.
- There should be no laws regarding sex for consenting adults.
- Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.
- There should be no National ID card.
Economic Issues
- End “corporate welfare.” No government handouts to business.
- End government barriers to international free trade.
- Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.
- Replace government welfare with private charity.
- Cut taxes and government spending by 50% or more.
You may recognize the questions from the World’s Smallest Political Quiz, which I recommend taking yourself so you can see how similar your views are to those of the candidates.
So, over the next few weeks, as the responses trickle in, I’m going to try to share their results with you – to help you inform your own decisions with regard to these candidates. It will also serve as a bit of an archive since candidates views change. If I ask them again in a later election it will be interesting to see how their views changed on these key issues.
If a candidate doesn’t specifically say whether they agree or disagree with one of the questions, I’ll be treating those as “Maybe” responses.
Here’s a list of the offices and candidates I emailed the survey to on 10/2/2013 (I’ll be linking the names to their responses as I receive them – no link means no response):
| Office | Municipality/District | Name |
| City Attorney | Columbus | Richard C. Pfeiffer, Jr. |
| City Auditor | Columbus | Hugh J. Dorrian |
| City Auditor | Columbus | Igor Ternovsky |
| Member of Council | Columbus | Brian Bainbridge |
| Member of Council | Columbus | Greg Lawson |
| Member of Council | Columbus | A. Troy Miller |
| Member of Council | Columbus | Eileen Paley |
| Member of Council | Columbus | Nick Schneider |
| Member of Council | Columbus | Priscilla R. Tyson |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Michael D. Cole |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Beverly J. Corner |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Hanifah Kambon |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Dominic Paretti |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Ramona R. Reyes |
| Member Board of Education | Columbus City School District | Mike Wiles |
| Municipal Court Judge (FTC 1‐1‐14) | Franklin County | Scott Van Der Karr |
| Municipal Court Judge (FTC 1‐2‐14) | Franklin County | Kristen McKinley |
| Municipal Court Judge (FTC 1‐2‐14) | Franklin County | Amy Salerno |
| Municipal Court Judge (FTC 1‐3‐14) | Franklin County | Gwen Callender |
| Municipal Court Judge (FTC 1‐3‐14) | Franklin County | James E. Green |
| Municipal Court Judge (UTE 1‐7‐2016) | Franklin County | James W. Adair, III |
| Municipal Court Judge (UTE 1‐7‐2016) | Franklin County | Dan Hawkins |
| Municipal Court Judge (UTE 1‐7‐2016) | Franklin County | Frank Macke |
40° North 