iVoterGuide
| iVoterGuide | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Tupelo, Mississippi |
| Type: | 501(c)(4) |
| Top official: | Debbie Wuthnow, President |
| Founder(s): | Richard Ford, Jim Sneeringer |
| Website: | Official website |
| Connections | |
| American Family Association Action | |
iVoterGuide is a project of AFA Action, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to "advancing biblical, family values in society and government by educating and influencing public policy."[1] The project described itself as "the nation’s largest candidate research organization focused exclusively on informing and mobilizing voters with biblical values. We don’t just tell you who’s running—we tell you what they believe."[2]
Background
iVoterGuide was created in 2008 by Richard Ford, founder of the Heritage Alliance, and Jim Sneeringer, a retired computer programmer, initially covering Texas' five most populous counties during that election cycle. The organization's candidate research preceded its creation, with Ford having compiled a hard-copy Texas voter guide in 2006 that he distributed to churches across the state.[3] iVoterGuide expanded its coverage in 2010 to include all federal races and several state legislative chambers. In 2012, iVoterGuide first partnered with AFA Action to distribute their voter guides.[3] In 2021, AFA Action acquired iVoterGuide.[4] As of September 2025, iVoterGuide's coverage included all federal races, statewide races in 41 states, and state legislative races in 33 states. It covered 15,190 candidates during the 2024 cycle.[2]
iVoterGuide describes its mission as "to equip and empower Christians to vote wisely and be good stewards."[5] On its website, the organization further says:
| “ | Because of our faith in God and love for Country, we are dedicated to preserving the Judeo-Christian values of our founding fathers. We seek to provide accurate information, to treat people fairly and with respect, and to do everything to the best of our ability for the glory of God.[6][7] | ” |
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Leadership
As of September 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at iVoterGuide:[9]
- Walker Wildmon, chief executive officer of AFA Action
- Debbie Wuthnow, president of iVoterGuide and vice president of AFA Action
Work and activities
Voter guide
iVoterGuide compiles candidate information into a searchable voter guide. Click here to learn more. As of 2024, this research included the following information:
Biography
iVoterGuide allows candidates to submit biographical information, including their political party, incumbency information, and links to websites and social media. Candidates can also provide educational and professional information along with any other affiliations.[10]
Scorecards and endorsements
For candidates who have previously held office, iVoterGuide compiles and displays legislative scorecard information. Additionally, iVoterGuide researches candidate endorsements and also allows candidates to report their own endorsements. In conducting its research, iVoterGuide classifies each endorser as conservative, liberal, or other, which it describes as "endorsers who are not able to be classified either way."[11]
Campaign finance
iVoterGuide researches campaign finance materials and displays selected findings. The organization divides these findings into two categories, displaying individuals and organizations who have donated to the candidate as well as individuals or organizations the candidate has donated to. iVoterGuide defines donors or recipients as either conservative or liberal and displays its findings alongside those labels. These findings are not limited to the current election cycle.[12]
Candidate questionnaires
iVoterGuide allows candidates to fill out questionnaires that contain "35 carefully crafted in-depth questions on key areas of concern to Judeo-Christian voters to get to the heart of candidates' stances on important issues."[13]
Candidate ratings
iVoterGuide rates candidates based on a combination of the above information. This section features descriptions of the labels and ratings based on the verbiage and methodology iVoterGuide uses. A full explanation of the site's ratings can be found here.
Labels
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In general, we define a conservative candidate as someone who, to varying degrees, generally holds these key principles:
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We define a liberal candidate, on the other hand, as someone who generally holds principles such as:
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Ratings
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The strongest evaluations within the spectrum are “Verified Conservative” or “Verified Liberal.” The term “verified” reflects the fact that only candidates who have a voting record or have taken public action demonstrating a commitment to conservative or liberal principles, despite significant pressure, are eligible to receive this evaluation.[14][7] |
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The next strongest, “Conservative” and “Liberal,” reflect candidates who appear to have solid conservative or liberal values based on information such as donations, endorsements, and public statements. Without having a strong voting record, however, the candidate is unproven as “Verified Conservative or Liberal.”[7] |
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iVoterGuide includes conditional ratings at this stage, which it describes as follows:
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“Conservative Conditional” and “Liberal Conditional” applies to candidates who appear to hold beliefs equivalent to a Conservative or Liberal evaluation. However, our researchers were only able to find minimal information on these candidates. Therefore, our confidence that they are conservative or liberal is conditional.[14][7] |
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“Leans Conservative” or “Leans Liberal” evaluations are for candidates with a mix of liberal and conservative beliefs. All issues considered, the candidate leans toward one side of the political spectrum and therefore did not receive a moderate evaluation. However, he or she possesses enough beliefs from the other side to prevent a solid liberal or conservative evaluation.[14][7] |
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Panelists
Ratings are developed by volunteer panelists. iVoterGuide describes these panelists as "biblically minded citizens who desire to held voters determine which candidates will stand up for the issues they care about most." Panelists are divided into two groups: standard panelists, who provide an initial rating, and oversight panelists, who review those ratings.[15]
iVoterGuide provides nationwide election research, voting information, and candidate evaluations. According to its website, iVoterGuide's candidate evaluations are designed to communicate how a candidate will govern if elected. The candidate evaluations range from "Verified Liberal" to "Verified Conservative."
The website also features a sample ballot lookup tool.
Funding
iVoterGuide became a division of AFA Action in 2021.[4] The following is a breakdown of AFA Action's revenues and expenses from 2021 to 2024. The information comes from ProPublica.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $0.05 million | $0.01 million |
| 2022 | $1.9 million | $1.6 million |
| 2023 | $1.8 million | $1.8 million |
| 2024 | $2.5 million | $2.6 million |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ AFA Action, "Home page," accessed September 23, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 iVoterGuide, "Home page," accessed September 23, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 iVoterGuide, "How Did iVoterGuide Begin?" accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 AFA Action, "AFA Action Announces Acquisition of iVoterGuide Ahead of 2022 Midterm Elections," Dec. 6, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "iVoterGuide," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Our Leadership," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "About," accessed September 23, 2025
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "About Us," accessed September 23, 2025
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Candidate Information," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Scorecards and Endorsements," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Campaign Finance Information," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Take Advantage of Our Candidate Questionnaires," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 iVoterGuide, "Candidate Ratings," accessed May 3, 2024
- ↑ iVoterGuide, "Panelists," accessed May 3, 2024
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