# How do I look up the political positions of people running for City Council and School Board? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 13, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194 "2022-10-13T15:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/1 "2022-10-13T15:45:28Z")
In this case, for the Holy Neck Borough of Suffolk, Virginia. My Google Fu is doing me very little good on the names “Timothy Jett Johnson”, “Dawn Marie Brittingham”, and “Julpenia O. Hill”, and obviously, they haven’t been advertising on television like the Congressional candidates have been. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/2 "2022-10-13T16:13:10Z")
Did you try looking them up on Facebook? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/3 "2022-10-13T16:17:07Z")
This is the answer. Even if they do not make their party leanings clear, you can get a good drift of what is important to them from their social media activity. If they lack social media activity, that should also tell you something. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/4 "2022-10-13T16:23:29Z")
Well, I see that Brittingham posed with Republican congressional candidate Jen Kiggans at a recent event, so that seems to imply to me that her opponent, Julpenia O. Hill, is a Democrat. They both have Facebook pages, so I sent a PM to Hill telling her my political leanings and my biggest issue, and asking her to solicit my vote. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/5 "2022-10-14T15:19:58Z")
I find that Ballotpedia is a generally good reference. > **[Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page)** > > Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Our goal is to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government. Your candidates are listed there, but unfortunately the site doesn’t have any details on any of them, just the fact that they are running. For races higher up the ticket, it usually has lots of useful info and links. So the previous suggestions of their social media sites are still your best option. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/6 "2022-10-14T15:22:14Z")
Also, I’ve had luck in small elections in just finding their contact info and reaching out directly. Ask them a question about something important to you. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/7 "2022-10-14T15:46:01Z")
When I ran for council, even though it was a non-partisan race, I was backed by the county Democratic party since I’m registered as a Democrat and espoused Democratic ideals. So my name showed up on all their literature. I looked at the Suffolk County, VA Democratic and Republican party web sites and Facebook pages and there’s no mention of any candidates anywhere. These people all are running as “Independent” according to Ballotpedia, but I’m not sure that they are partisan races. They probably aren’t. Mr. Johsnson is running unopposed so that’s why he has no presence anywhere. He doesn’t need to do anything to win. [Here’s Dawn Brittingham’s candidate FB page.](https://www.facebook.com/DawnMarie4schoolboard2022) [Here’s Julepenia Hill’s candidate FB page](https://www.facebook.com/TheRightHill) That’s usually the best you’re going to get in a local race, because Facebook is free for them to use. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-look-up-the-political-positions-of-people-running-for-city-council-and-school-board/973194/8 "2022-10-14T16:44:05Z")
If you contact your local Democratic party, they will tell you who they endorse. That’s assuming that they have not already contacted _you_. [https://sdcvirginia.org/2022/09/22/suffolk-democratic-committee-candidate-endorsements/](https://sdcvirginia.org/2022/09/22/suffolk-democratic-committee-candidate-endorsements/) > [@](#): > > - Karima Hopkins-Lockwood for School Board Chuckatuck borough, > - Karen Jenkins for School Board Cypress borough, and > - Tyron Riddick for School Board Suffolk borough. > > Elaine Luria is our Democratic Candidate for Congress, 2nd District