Tip for voters: how to vote for/against judges etc whose names you are unfamiliar with

[librechik]

This was posted last week by somebody and I found it quite useful.

From your ballot list, just take the names of judges to retain in office, state reps, regents, water commissioners etc. whose names you don't know and

google NAME+ Political+ Contributions. Also, newsmeat.com has political contributions from everybody listed.


Many of these people have contributed money to candidates, either Repub or Democrat. You can glean more info about who they are from this info.

Thanks to the DUer who gave me this tip, whoever you are!

GOTV!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. If you are in Florida, vote to RETAIN all three Supreme Court justices on the ballot.

These justices--Lewis, Pariente, and Quince--just so happen to be the three that were appointed by Democratic governors. All three are excellent jurists, but have been targeted by a dubious Koch funded smear campaign, endorsed by the Republican Party.

[tosh]

6. +1000!

[pinboy3niner]

2. Or check you local Democratic Party Committee's endorsements

The committee for my county usually posts its endorsements on its website. If they don't have an endorsement for a particular race, other local labor and progressive groups may.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. In San Diego vote against Miller

he has been deemed non qualified by the local legal profession.

[SalviaBlue]

4. thanks for the tip.

[Journeyman]

5. That's also a great way for vindictive employers to "cull the undesirables" after the election . . .

It's a reasonable deduction that who you support with your money is who you vote for.

This is why I'm opposed to all such sites. And in light of Citizens United, we should all enjoy the same freedom with our money as corporations do (at least until the ruling is overturned). Freedom of speech is meaningless if it doesn't include the right to be silent, and to keep to yourself those opinions and beliefs you're not ready or willing to share with the larger public.

This is, indeed, the core of the 1st Amendment argument put forth by the Hollywood Ten. The question we need to ask is, how long will we permit what happened to them to continue in our society?

[RomneyLies]

7. You're welcome

[librechik]

15. thanks!

and welcome to DU!

[William769]

8. Recommended.

[northoftheborder]

9. Excellent suggestion!

[backscatter712]

10. Great tip!

As a rule, I tend to vote to retain on judicial elections unless I have good reason not to - I don't want to give teabaggers and fundies more of a vehicle than they've already got to hijack the courts.

Voting Republican: not a good reason in and of itself. If the judge can make fair rulings, and doesn't have a history of inflicting his politics on us from the bench, I'll vote to retain.

Openly advocating teabagger/fundie/hard-right positions in such a way as to make me question his or her impartiality or professionalism, or letting such views influence their rulings - that's a good reason to throw them out.

[frazzled]

11. Check the evaluations of the various bar associations

Not just your state and local bar associations, but in some places you will also have a Women's bar assn, a GLBT assn, a Latino assn, etc. If the stars align with a candidate for or against, you can be pretty sure to retain or kick them out. At least where I live (Chicago), the attorneys who stand before these judges know pretty well which ones have to stay or go.

[louis-t]

12. Commercials claiming "Law and order " judges are usually repugs.

"When a serial rapist tried to get out on a technicality..." blah, blah, blah...

[justgamma]

13. The Cons in Iowa

are going after judges again this year. So I read the yard signs and vote for whoever they are against. They managed to get rid of 3 last time.

[justiceischeap]

14. Just FYI, one of the Repub plans is to get GOP judges elected

across the country so they can control the courts. Don't know if it matters so much in local races but it's something to keep in mind when voting.