Ballotpedia:How we handle partisan affiliation
A person's partisan affiliation refers to their relationship to a political party, not their ideological or philosophical beliefs. This relationship can take many different forms.
This article details Ballotpedia's approach to handling an officeholder or candidate's partisan affiliation in a range of scenarios. Each section of this article describes how Ballotpedia treats a different scenario and provides an italicized example of language that could be used on a person's Ballotpedia profile page in that case.
The person ran as a partisan for partisan office
If the person ran or is running on a party ticket, Ballotpedia may describe the person in these or similar ways:
- Jane Doe, a Republican, was elected in 2010.
- Jane Doe is a Democratic member of the New York State Senate.
- Jane Doe (Republican Party) is the District C member of the Georgia Public Service Commission.
In the event of a fusion voting election, where a person can be the nominee for multiple political parties, Ballotpedia will treat the largest political party as the primary one but include all parties the candidate filed under. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe, a Republican, was elected in 2010. New York permits fusion voting; in addition to running on the Republican Party ticket, Doe also ran on the Conservative Party ticket.
If a person files for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and wins the nomination for only one party, that party will be treated as the primary one. If the person wins the nomination of both major parties, Ballotpedia will state that directly on the person's Ballotpedia profile page.
A person may also be running or have run on a party ticket while stating elsewhere that they do not support that party. In that event, Ballotpedia will continue to identify the person as affiliated with that political party but include more information on that person's Ballotpedia profile page in order to represent the situation accurately. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe ran on the Democratic Party ticket. However, Doe said in an interview with ABC News that she is not a member of the Democratic Party and does not support their party platform; she said that she chose to run on the Democratic Party ticket because she wants to change the party's policy positions to her own.
A person may also have ran on a party ticket but changed parties following the election. In that event, Ballotpedia will identify the person using their newly chosen political party; however, Ballotpedia will also include information on that person's Ballotpedia profile page regarding the change. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe is a Republican member of the New York State Senate. Doe ran for office as a Democrat. In June 2013, she officially switched her party affiliation to the Republican Party. In an email to Ballotpedia, she stated, "I did not leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me."
The person ran for a nonpartisan office or in a nonpartisan election
Many elections and public offices in the United States are nonpartisan, meaning that they do not involve political party nominations. Even though a person may hold or run for an officially nonpartisan position, there may be evidence that the person does have a partisan affiliation.
However, regardless of the amount or strength of the evidence, Ballotpedia typically will not refer to a person as a partisan member of a nonpartisan office. Exceptions to this general policy include city mayors and members of the Nebraska State Senate.
The following bolded statements describe different types of evidence of partisan affiliation for a person running in a nonpartisan election or who holds a nonpartisan office.
The person was endorsed by a political party or affiliated group
A local, state, or national political party may endorse a candidate running in a nonpartisan election. In this event, Ballotpedia will provide this information on the person's Ballotpedia profile page but not state that they are a partisan candidate or officeholder. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe was endorsed by the Wyoming Democratic Party.
The person was nominated for the ballot in a partisan convention
As part of the election process for some nonpartisan offices, such as the Michigan Supreme Court, a candidate must be nominated at a state political party's convention in order to appear on the general election ballot. However, that political party is not listed with the candidate's name on that ballot. In that event, Ballotpedia will identify the person using this partisan affiliation but also include an explanation of the situation on the person's Ballotpedia profile page. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe (Republican Party) ran for election for judge of the Michigan Supreme Court. Doe lost in the general election on November 6, 2018. The Michigan Supreme Court is officially nonpartisan, but candidates were nominated to the ballot by party convention. Doe was nominated by the Republican Party.
The person ran in a nonpartisan election for a partisan office
An office may have partisan regular elections but nonpartisan special elections, and so candidates in those races may announce their partisan affiliation during or after the election. In that event, Ballotpedia will identify the person using this partisan affiliation but also include an explanation of the situation on the person's Ballotpedia profile page. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe (Democratic Party) is a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District. Doe was first elected in a special election in 2015. Although this was a nonpartisan election, Doe announced before the election that she was a member of the Democratic Party.
The person was appointed to a nonpartisan office by a partisan officeholder
Some partisan officeholders have the authority to appoint people to hold other government offices. In this event, Ballotpedia will provide this information on the person's Ballotpedia profile page but not state that they are a partisan officeholder. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe was appointed by Republican Gov. John Doe.
The person holds a nonpartisan office but is running for a partisan office
If the candidacy is active, Ballotpedia will identify the person using this partisan affiliation but also include an explanation of the situation on the person's Ballotpedia profile page. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe (Democratic Party) is an at-large member of the Cobb County School District school board in Georgia. Doe is running for election for Governor of Georgia. The general election is on November 4, 2014.
If the candidacy is no longer active and the person did not win the partisan office, Ballotpedia will provide this information on the person's Ballotpedia profile page but not state their partisan affiliation. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe is an at-large member of the Cobb County School District school board in Georgia. Doe ran unsuccessfully as a member of the Democratic Party for Governor of Georgia in the 2014 election.
The person holds a partisan office but is running for a nonpartisan office
Unless the person wins the nonpartisan office and leaves the partisan office, Ballotpedia will identify the person using this partisan affiliation but also include an explanation of the situation on the person's Ballotpedia profile page. This may look like the following:
- Jane Doe (Republican Party) is a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing District 19. Doe is running for election for the Ward 1 seat on the Tuscaloosa City Council. The general election is on November 8, 2016.
The person has publicized their partisan affiliation
Although a person may be running for or holding a nonpartisan office, they could announce in their campaign materials or in a media interview that they are affiliated with a political party. In this event, Ballotpedia will provide this information on the person's Ballotpedia profile page but not state that they are a partisan candidate or officeholder. This may look like the following:
- Although the office Jane Doe holds is officially nonpartisan, she identifies as a member of the Green Party.
