Questions to Ask a Political Candidate
Good questions to ask political candidates at a town hall, a candidate forum or on your own doorstep, for voters sizing up the people running for office where they live. They work on a city council hopeful, on state representative candidates and on someone after a seat in Congress. They are grouped by the job itself, the candidate's plans, the issues, who is backing the campaign, judgment and what happens after the vote. Each is written to be hard to answer with a slogan, and each has a note on what a real answer sounds like, what to ask next and, where there is one, the public record to check it against.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The Job
Why are you running for this office and not a different one?
Why ask it
Someone who picked this seat can say what drew them to it: a board they have watched from the audience, a decision they saw go wrong, a vacancy nobody else stepped up for. When the answer is all biography and would fit any office on the ballot, the seat may be a step toward another one.
What are your top three priorities if you win?
Why ask it
Three is a useful limit, because a candidate who lists nine has not chosen. Write the three down and compare them with the campaign's mailers and website. If the list changes with the audience, you were hearing what the room wanted and not a plan.
What experience qualifies you for this office, and what have you actually been in charge of?
Why ask it
You are after a track record with a size attached. If the answer stays at leadership experience, ask what the budget was and how many people reported to them. A first-time candidate who ran a food bank or met a small payroll, and says so plainly, has given a better answer than a long list of titles.
What is the biggest problem facing this district right now, and how do you know?
Why ask it
The second half asks for evidence: a waiting list, a budget line, a count of calls to an office, a street they walked. A problem lifted from national news with no local detail suggests the campaign was written somewhere else.
What sets you apart from the other candidates in this race?
Why ask it
The weak answer is about character: harder working, more honest, a fresh voice. The useful one names a vote, a position or a piece of experience where they differ, and that is something you can take to the opponent and ask about.
What does this office actually control, and what do people wrongly blame it for?
Why ask it
Few questions show faster whether someone has read the job description. A candidate for mayor who promises to change state law, or one for city council who promises to rewrite what the schools teach, has usually either not checked what the seat does or is hoping you will not.
How long have you lived here, and what have you done in the community outside of politics?
Why ask it
Years at an address matter less than what filled them: a board seat, a team coached, a business with a payroll, a cause they turned up for before running. Residency rules differ by office and by state, so if the candidate is new to the district, ask the election office what applies where you live.
Where have you spent time in this district in the past month?
Why ask it
Streets, schools, shop names and meetings are hard to fake and easy to check. If every place on the list turns out to be a campaign event, the month went to supporters and the rest of the district has yet to be heard.
If you win a seat in a legislature, which committee would you ask to sit on, and why?
Why ask it
Meant for state representative candidates and congressional candidates, since committees are where most bills get rewritten or quietly dropped. The strong answer ties the committee to something this district depends on, such as farms, a port or a state university. Assignments are usually handed out by party leaders, so ask what the second choice would be.
Plans
What is the first thing you would try to change, and what would it take to actually get it done?
Why ask it
Slogans tend to stop at the first half. A serious answer goes on to name who else has to agree: a council majority, a state agency, a union contract, a ballot measure. If nobody else appears in the plan, it is still a wish.
How much would your biggest promise cost, and what in the current budget pays for it?
Why ask it
Candidates are usually ready with the cost and less ready with where it comes from. Three replies should make you ask again: growth will pay for it, we will find efficiencies, and a grant will cover it. None of them is a line in a budget.
Under what circumstances would you vote to raise taxes or fees?
Why ask it
Never and whatever it takes are both slogans. A thought-through answer names the circumstance, such as a bond for one building or a shortfall in a service people rely on, and names which tax, because a sales tax and a property tax land on different households.
Where has your main idea been tried before, and how did it go there?
Why ask it
A named city, state or country can be looked up tonight. Ask what is different about this place, and be a little wary of a candidate who knows only the success story, since few ideas have worked everywhere they were tried.
Who is worse off if your main proposal passes?
Why ask it
Every real policy costs somebody: taxpayers, one neighborhood, the contractor who has the work now, a group losing a subsidy. Insisting that everybody wins means either the thinking stopped early or the costly part is being kept back until after the vote.
What is the smaller version of your plan if the votes or the money are not there?
Why ask it
Most platforms meet a lost vote or a tight budget in the first year. A candidate who can describe the half measure they would still fight for has thought past election night. A flat refusal to imagine losing a vote is a forecast of how the term will go.
What is the first bill you would introduce or put your name on?
Why ask it
In a legislature a plan only counts once it is a bill, so ask for one. Anyone who has done the reading can say what it would change, whether something like it has been filed before and what stopped it. From a newcomer, naming an existing bill they would co-sponsor is a perfectly good reply.
What do you think government should stay out of?
Why ask it
Candidates of every stripe draw a line somewhere, and where they draw it tells you more than a party label does. Follow up by asking who should handle that problem instead, since leaving it to families, charities or the market is also a plan with results.
Issues
What would you do about the cost of living here, and which part of it can this office actually move?
Why ask it
Prices are the complaint every candidate hears and few offices set. Listen for the lever that belongs to the seat, such as fees, utility rules, tax rates or permits, and discount any promise about groceries or gas from an office with no hand on either.
What would make housing here more affordable, and where should the new homes go?
Why ask it
Nearly everyone running is for affordable housing in general, and support thins out once there is a location. Name a real site or street and see whether the answer holds. From a state or national candidate, the thing to find out is whether they would leave that choice to each town.
How would you bring good jobs here or keep the ones we have?
Why ask it
Tax breaks and incentives are the usual offer, and the money for them comes out of something else. The part worth hearing is the deal: what the employer has to promise in return, and who checks a few years on that the jobs showed up.
What would you change about the public schools here, and what would you leave alone?
Why ask it
The leave-alone half shows whether they have been inside a school lately or have only read about schools. Power over schools is split between boards, states and national government differently from place to place, so find out which of their changes could be made from this seat.
What would you do about the cost of health care and how long it takes to be seen?
Why ask it
A speech about the whole system is easy to give. Bring it down to one thing people here run into, such as a closed clinic, an ambulance wait or a surprise bill, and what this particular seat could do about that one.
What is your approach to crime and public safety, and what number would tell you it was working?
Why ask it
Tough and compassionate are moods. Policy is what gets funded: officers, courts, treatment, street lighting, youth programs. The number matters because a measure chosen before the election, whether response times, burglaries or repeat offences, can be held up against the results afterwards.
What needs fixing or building here first: roads, water, transit or internet, and why that one?
Why ask it
Choosing one means ranking it above the others, which is most of what a budget vote is. Someone who knows the place will name the bridge, the bus route or the street with no signal. For a state or national seat, turn it into which local project they would go after money for.
What does this district get from the state or federal budget today, and what would you try to bring home?
Why ask it
A legislator is the district's voice in the room where the money is divided. Someone who knows the place can name the road grant, the hospital payment or the school funding formula it leans on. Money brought home is still public money, so it is fair to ask which request they would refuse to make.
What would you do about energy bills and the environment here, and who pays for it?
Why ask it
Local versions of this are concrete: a power plant, a flood wall, a water supply, a utility rate case. Whatever the candidate favors, someone pays through a bill, a tax or a risk left alone, and a straight answer says who.
What is your position on immigration, and how would it show up in your votes?
Why ask it
Borders and visas are national business in most countries, while police cooperation, schools, licences and local services can fall to states and cities. If the candidate talks only about the border while running for a seat that never votes on it, ask again about the part they would decide.
Where do you stand on abortion, and what could you vote on or sign from this office?
Why ask it
A label tells you which side a candidate is on and little about what they would do. The specifics are what end up in law: limits, exceptions, funding. Whether this office has any say at all depends on where you live, so an honest answer may be that it does not.
What would you tighten, loosen or leave alone in the gun laws?
Why ask it
All three options are in the question so the candidate cannot answer with a feeling about rights or safety. Ask for one named measure, what they expect it to change, and what would persuade them it had not worked.
Should anything change about how people register and vote here?
Why ask it
Election rules are set at different levels in different places, and many offices never vote on them, so find out first whether this one does. A real answer names a rule, such as a registration deadline, mail ballots, ID at the polls or the number of polling places, and gives a reason that would still apply if the change helped the other side.
Here is the issue that decides my vote. What exactly would you do about it?
Why ask it
Bring your own issue in one sentence and leave out which answer you are hoping for. Candidates mirror the questioner when they can, so the less they know about your side, the more you learn about theirs.
Which issue gets too much attention in this race, and which gets too little?
Why ask it
The neglected issue is often the dull one the office spends most of its time on, like pensions, water pipes or a contract coming up for renewal. Naming it takes someone who has been watching the job as well as the race.
What else is on this ballot that you support, and what are you voting against?
Why ask it
Save this for an election with measures or other contests on the ballot. A measure is already written, so the honest answers are yes, no, or undecided with a reason. Declining to say how they will vote on a public question shows you how they would treat an unpopular vote in office.
Backers
Where does your campaign money come from, and who is your biggest donor?
Why ask it
The answer can be compared with public campaign finance filings, so a vague one is worth noting on its own. Follow up on money that can turn into a conflict later: political action committees, developers, unions, donors from outside the district. If they say they refuse some kind of money, the filings show whether that line cost them anything.
Which outside groups are spending money on this race, and are their ads accurate?
Why ask it
In many places groups that are not part of a campaign can advertise for or against a candidate, and the rules about coordinating with them vary. The candidate may not control the ad, but they can tell you whether it is true, and declining to say is a choice.
What would you do if your donors and your constituents wanted opposite things?
Why ask it
Asked as a hypothetical it invites a platitude, so follow it with whether that has already happened. Candidates with governing experience can usually name the actual instance and what they did, and those answers are checkable.
Which endorsements have you accepted, and is there one you turned down?
Why ask it
An endorsement list shows who expects a returned phone call. Many groups endorse on the strength of a written questionnaire, so ask whether the candidate will share what they wrote, and treat a declined endorsement as the more interesting half of the answer.
Where could your job, your investments or your family's business collide with this office?
Why ask it
Nearly every candidate owns something, works somewhere or is related to someone that a future vote will touch. You want to hear the conflict named before anyone has accused them of it, along with what they would do: disclose it, sit out the vote, or sell.
How much of your own finances will voters be able to see before election day?
Why ask it
Disclosure rules differ by office and by place, so first find out what the law requires where you live. The better part of the answer is anything offered beyond that minimum, with a date attached, because records released after the election are no use to a voter.
Whose advice do you take, and who would you bring into office with you?
Why ask it
For a mayor, a governor or a president, much of the job is choosing people, and the names show which group would really be taking over. A candidate who names nobody may not have decided, or may have decided on someone unpopular, and it is fair to ask which.
Judgment
On which issue do you part ways with your own party?
Why ask it
Nearly every candidate has one, so the test is whether they will say it out loud and how small they make it. A complaint about tone is not a disagreement, while a bill or a vote is. In a nonpartisan race, ask it about the groups that endorsed them.
What do you support that most of the people voting for you do not?
Why ask it
The answer worth having costs something in the room where it is given: a tax their supporters dislike, a project their own neighbors oppose. A position that only annoys the other side does not count, and you can say so.
What is a position you used to hold and have since dropped, and what moved you?
Why ask it
Look for a specific cause in the story: a report, a constituent, a bill that failed. Growing wiser with time is not an answer. Someone who has changed nothing in a decade of public life is describing either conviction or inattention, and it is fair to ask which.
Tell me about a decision you got wrong. What did it cost, and who did you tell?
Why ask it
The last part separates people who own a mistake from people who manage one. Be wary of the flattering error, such as trusting too much or working too hard, and of any story in which the real fault turns out to be somebody else's.
Name one decision this office made in the last term that you would have made differently, and one you would have made the same way.
Why ask it
It works on a challenger and an incumbent alike, and neither can answer without knowing the record. A challenger who cannot name an actual decision has not read the minutes or the votes. The decision they would repeat is the harder one to give, because agreeing with what was done makes poor campaign material.
What is one thing your opponent is right about?
Why ask it
Saying this in a contested race is uncomfortable, which is why the answer is worth having. Someone who can find nothing will struggle in a job that mostly consists of building a majority out of people who disagree with them.
When have you worked with someone from the other party, and what came of it?
Why ask it
Every candidate promises to reach across the aisle, so ask for the past tense. A real example has a name, a subject and a result, and it is fair to ask what they gave up to get it.
Who would you support to lead your party in the chamber, and what would you ask of them?
Why ask it
One of the first votes a new legislator casts is usually for who runs the chamber or the caucus, and that person decides which bills reach the floor. Candidates tend to wave it off as inside business. Ask anyway, because a member who owes the leader nothing and one who owes them everything will vote differently on your issue.
Which voters who did not back your party last time can you win over, and what would you say to them?
Why ask it
Good for a primary, when a stage of Democratic candidates or Republican ones agree on most issues and argue about who can win in the fall. This turns that argument into a claim you can test: which towns, which voters, what message. Enthusiasm with no names in it means nobody on the campaign has studied the last result.
How do you decide how to vote on something you know little about?
Why ask it
Most votes in any office fall outside the member's own expertise: a sewer bond one week, a software contract the next. Listen for who they would call and what they would read, and whether the list includes anyone who does not already agree with them.
What is the hardest question you get at the door, and what do you say?
Why ask it
You are asking which subject they would rather not be asked about, and it is often the one missing from the leaflet. Notice whether the reply they repeat for you is an answer or an exit line, because the voter who disagreed with them on the doorstep got the same one.
What will you not do or say to win this race?
Why ask it
Ask it before the final weeks, when the attack mail usually arrives. A specific limit, such as leaving an opponent's family alone or putting their own name on every ad, can be held up against what the campaign sends out later.
After the Vote
After the election, how does a constituent get hold of you, and who actually answers?
Why ask it
Ask for the mechanics: an office, staffed hours, a phone number, a response time, town halls on a schedule. For a small local seat with no staff, the honest answer may be a personal number and evenings. An open door with none of that behind it has not been planned yet.
Will you explain your votes in public, including the unpopular ones?
Why ask it
Voting records are usually published, but the reasons rarely are. A newsletter, a posted statement or a regular open meeting with questions from the floor is the difference between a representative you can argue with and one you can only vote out.
How would you represent the people here who voted against you?
Why ask it
Everyone promises to serve the whole district, so ask what that looks like in a normal week: meetings held in the precincts they lost, a standing invitation to a group that opposed them, help with a problem given without asking how you voted. An incumbent can be asked when they last did any of it.
Is this a full-time job for you, and what else will you be doing while you hold it?
Why ask it
Many councils, boards and legislatures are part-time, and members keep other work. That is normal, so the point is practical: how many meetings can they attend, when will they read the packet, and does the other job create a conflict.
How will you divide your time between the capital and the district?
Why ask it
A state representative or a member of Congress works in two places, and the lobbyists are in the one where the voters are not. Ask how often they expect to be home while the legislature is sitting and what a day back looks like. Sessions run for very different lengths from state to state, so check how long yours lasts.
Do you intend to serve the full term?
Why ask it
What happens to a seat left in the middle of a term depends on the rules where you live: an appointment, a special election, or months with nobody in it. A hedge here often means the next campaign is already in mind, so ask plainly and notice whether you get a yes.
Halfway through your term, what should I be able to point to that shows you did what you said?
Why ask it
Ask for a number and a date, and write both down. Candidates willing to name a measurable outcome are giving you something to hold them to, and the ones who answer that progress is hard to quantify are declining to be graded.
If you lose and the result is certified, will you concede?
Why ask it
A plain yes takes one second. Recounts and legal challenges are ordinary parts of a close election, so the commitment you are asking for is narrower: that once those run out, the count stands.
If you lose, what will you keep working on?
Why ask it
Ask this last. Candidates with a genuine cause name the commission they will keep attending or the group they will keep organizing. Those who wanted the position more than the work tend to go quiet.
Getting a real answer, and checking it later
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Where you actually get answers
Small rooms beat big ones
A candidate forum with forty people, a neighborhood association meeting, or a coffee event gets you a real exchange. At a rally you will get talking points, and at a televised debate the answer is aimed past you at the camera.
The doorstep is your best shot at a specific answer
When the candidate knocks, you have their attention alone for a couple of minutes. Pick one question, ask it, and ask the follow-up rather than working through a list. A volunteer canvasser cannot speak for the candidate, but most will take a question back to the campaign if you give them a way to reach you.
Written questions get written answers
Email the campaign one narrow question and keep the reply. Not every campaign answers, which is worth knowing in itself, and when one does, a written position is much harder to walk back than a remark at an event.
Reaching congressional candidates and other big-district campaigns
A congressional district is too large for the candidate to reach every door, so your question usually has to go through a town hall, a telephone town hall or the campaign office. Ask the office when the next open event is and whether questions are taken from the floor or screened in advance. Screened questions get safer answers, which is worth knowing before you make the trip.
Ask the same question of every candidate in the race
One answer tells you little. The same question asked of three candidates tells you who has done the reading, and it stops you from grading whoever you happened to meet first against a harder standard. In a primary, put it to all the Democratic candidates or all the Republican ones, because their differences are small enough that only an identical question brings them out.
Fitting the issue questions to the office
- Before the event, read one recent agenda for the body, or the list of bills from its last session. Five minutes of that tells you which issue questions the candidate could do anything about.
- As a rough guide in the United States, councils and county boards deal with zoning, local roads, police and fire budgets and local fees, school boards pass the district budget and hire its leader, state legislatures write most criminal, election and school funding law, and Congress handles federal taxes, immigration and national programs. Every state splits it a little differently, so check yours.
- When an issue sits above the office, change the question instead of dropping it. Ask what the candidate would press the higher level for, or how they would spend the money that comes down from it.
- Ask for the vote, not the value. Whether they would vote for a named bill or measure can be checked later, while whether they care about the problem gets a yes from everyone.
- Candidates for judge are often restricted in what they may say about cases and issues, and the rules differ by state. Ask them about experience, workload and how they run a courtroom instead.
- With a long list and one turn at the microphone, pick two questions: one about what the candidate would do, and one about how you would check.
How a dodge is built
- The reframe: they answer a nearby question they prefer. Say I want to ask about the first thing, and repeat it once.
- The values answer: agreement with your concern, no mechanism. Follow with who has to vote for that, and when.
- The blame handoff: the state, the previous administration, the courts. Ask what part is within this office's control.
- The number with no denominator: millions invested, jobs created. Ask over how many years and compared with what.
- The commitment to study it: ask who studies it, by what date, and what happens after the report.
- The filibuster: a four-minute answer that never lands. Note it and move on, because time spent is the point of it.
Checking the answers against the record
- In the United States, campaign finance reports are public records and most can be searched online. Small local races are sometimes filed on paper with a clerk, so ask the election office where the reports for this race are kept, then compare the funding answer with the donor list.
- Minutes and agendas for councils, boards, and commissions show whether an incumbent attended and how they voted.
- The adopted budget document shows whether a proposed cut or program actually exists at the scale described.
- Local newspaper archives and public meeting recordings show what a candidate said about the same issue two years ago.
- Court records, business registrations and property records are open to the public in most places, and they occasionally contradict a biography.
- If a candidate cites a study or a peer city, ask for the name, then read what it actually says about the comparison.
Mistakes voters make in these conversations
Making a speech instead of asking a question
A long preamble gives the candidate the topic and the framing, and they will answer the part they like. Keep the question to one sentence, then stop talking and wait.
Accepting agreement as an answer
A practiced candidate will agree warmly with your concern and then move to something else. Warmth about the problem is not a position on the problem, and the polite way to say so is to ask what specifically they would do.
Grading on the national fight
Local and state offices mostly decide zoning, budgets, contracts, policing, roads, and schools. Sorting candidates only by their national alignment leaves you no information about the decisions the office actually makes.
Asking a gotcha and learning nothing
A question designed to embarrass produces a defensive answer that tells you nothing you can use. Ask the same underlying question straight and you will often get the admission the gotcha version would have hardened them against.