# What downballot candidates are you passionate about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438 "2016-03-28T04:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/1 "2016-03-28T04:59:53Z")
This presidential campaign has spawned plenty of nuttiness; but what about State and Local elections? Are there any local candidates that make your blood boil, either way? Sorry Mods, can you move this to the Elctions Forum? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/2 "2016-03-28T07:31:04Z")
Really hoping Russ Feingold will retake his Senate seat. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/3 "2016-03-28T07:54:50Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Really hoping Russ Feingold will retake his Senate seat. Just the opposite here. But a campaign I’m working on is [Bob Donovan](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=783583) for Milwaukee Mayor. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/4 "2016-03-28T13:29:15Z")
Another Badger chiming in: Milwaukee Mayor – A Tom Barrett supporter, though I don’t get a vote Senate – Russ Feingold Supreme Court – anyone except Rebecca Bradley ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/5 "2016-03-28T15:57:38Z")
Eager to vote for Tammy Duckworth for US Senate from Illinois. Kirk isn’t as awful as most Republicans but his bizarre comments leave me wondering about his fitness for office and if he is completely recovered. I’ll be voting against the despicable Kim Foxx for Cook County State attorney. Been a long time since I voted for a Republcan but there’s no way I’m voting for the ethnically challenged Foxx. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/6 "2016-03-28T16:07:21Z")
Super-downballot stuff here: our local county commissioner candidate. There’s this organization, [Campaign for Southern Equality](http://www.southernequality.org/), that has done absolutely tremendous, strategic, and deeply moral work to promote the rights of the LGBT community in the South, including arguing against the national inclination to write the South off on such issues. The organization is led by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, one of my lifetime heroes. She’s brilliant and wise and one of the most deeply decent human beings I know. And she’s just entered politics and, having won her primary, virtually certain to win in November. If, twenty years from now, she’s among the best-known US politicians, you heard it here first :). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/7 "2016-03-28T16:10:53Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’ll be voting against the despicable Kim Foxx for Cook County State attorney. Been a long time since I voted for a Republcan but there’s no way I’m voting for the ethnically challenged Foxx. Is he super-white or something? 😉 As an aside, I think Dems need to be putting a lot more focus on down-ballot candidates in all 50 states. Without such focus, the party is going to continue ceding local/state elections to Republicans, which is a terrible idea. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/8 "2016-03-28T21:52:50Z")
Also eager to vite for Duckworth. And I will vote, without much hope, for whatever Democrat runs for HR in Champaign County. I get to vote for National candidates only. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/9 "2016-03-28T22:26:36Z")
Also, if you’re somewhere in a solid blue state and you’re wondering what you can do to influence the election, you could do a lot worse than to look at viable down-ballot candidates in other states that need your help, and donate to them. For example, are you as disgusted by North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law as I am? Well, Pat McCrory, our lovely governor who signed that bill around midnight last week, is vulnerable this November to [Roy Cooper](http://www.roycooper.com/), who’s spoken out vociferously both against this law and against our earlier Amendment 1 (the last law in the nation, AFAIK, passed specifically to bar same-sex marriage). He’s a pretty decent sort, and if you wanted to drop a dollar on him, we Southern progressives would be mighty obliged :). ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/10 "2016-03-28T22:50:49Z")
There must be several Prairie Staters here. I too am looking forward to voting for Tammy Duckworth for US Senate, altho like dalej42 I don’t think Kirk is a bad guy. After all, he did just tell his fellow GOP senators to “man up” and hold confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland. I’ll also vote for Mike Quigley for HR, but I think his victory is pretty certain – no Republican ran in the primary. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/11 "2016-03-28T23:36:09Z")
[Joe Dunn](https://joedunnforcongress.com/), Democratic candidate for the 46th Congressional District of California. I’m delighted to see a Bernie Sanders style populist running in my district and I look forward to working for his campaign to pass the hurdle of the June primary when I return from Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/12 "2016-03-29T09:02:13Z")
Feingold and Duckworth are pretty much sure things, with good reason. Feingold established a record as a maverick and good government advocate and Duckworth is actually about as conservative a Democrat as you can elect in Illinois. So I’m actually pretty passionate about them as well. As for my own state of Florida, I’m really excited about our Senate choices, which are all quite good except for Alan Grayson. Patrick Murphy, the Democratic candidate, is an accountant, probably one of the most underrepresented professions in Congress given how important the skill set is. I say fire 75% of the lawyers in Congress and replace half of them with accountants. On the GOP side, Ron DeSantis is probably the best guy. He’s Presidential material, actually, Harvard and Yale educated, Judge Advocate General, off the charts brilliant. he’s also my hero for submitting this bill: > [@](#): > > On January 29, 2014, DeSantis introduced into the House the Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014 (H.R. 3973; 113th Congress), a bill that would direct the United States Department of Justice to report to the United States Congress whenever any federal agency refrains from enforcing laws or regulations for any reason.[8][9] In the report, the government would have to explain why it had decided not to enforce that law > **[Ron DeSantis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_DeSantis#2012_election)** > > Ronald Dion DeSantis (/dɪˈsæntɪs, diː-/; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. Representative from Florida's 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2018. DeSantis was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing his candidacy in January 2024. > Born in Jacksonville, DeSantis spent most of his childhood in Dunedin, Florida. He graduated from Yal... ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/13 "2016-03-29T15:28:45Z")
I was excited to vote against Dorothy Brown, our [terrible](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-jacob-meister-dorothy-brown-cook-clerk-edit-0309-20160308-story.html) Clerk of the Circuit Court, in the primaries a couple weeks ago. Of course, she won the primary, because people are idiots, so I’ll be excited to vote against her again in November, where she will once again win. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/14 "2016-03-29T15:35:38Z")
Chuck Schumer; my senator, and has done a great job repping what Democrats, really at all levels, ought to be. Stands up for abortion rights, immigration reform, LGB rights, ACA (which has definitely streamlined the labyrinthine process of even buying healthcare) but also took tough stands on some of the excesses of Obama’s foreign policy. I would’ve also loved Steve Israel, my representative in Congress, but sadly, he’s resigning. IDK who’s running for his seat, but I wish I knew. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/15 "2016-03-29T16:51:51Z")
Kamala Harris so far seems like an excellent choice to replace the retiring senator Barabara Boxer. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/16 "2016-03-29T17:10:46Z")
Our State Board of Education engenders WTF? articles throughout the countries & supplies material to the more intelligent TV comedians. The Social Studies texts now in use (in other states, too, since Texas buys so many) show the reasons for Secession as States Rights, Tariffs & one other issue. We’ve managed to keep Creationism/Intelligent Design off the public school curricula, but it’s been a close thing. Board members are elected–guess which party is more retrograde? Here are [results from the primary](http://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/01/state-board-races-head-to-runoff/). If you’re a Texan, see if your member is up for re-election. I have no kids but dislike ignorance. Which is why I’m pissed that [Ms Bahorich](https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/139678/donna-bahorich#.VvqmcdIrK9I) is _my_ board member–and also Chairwoman of the board. My US Rep, State Rep & State Senator are all Democrats. How did this happen? Who drew the boundaries for our district? Do most sane people just ignore that one office on a crowded ballot? She has two Democratic opponents going into the runoff. Ms Bahorich’s education consists of a BS in Financial Management. And a Masters in “Counseling” from [Liberty University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_University#Controversy). Her resume includes lots of work for the Republican Party–she’s very close to Dan Patrick, our Lite Gov and a prime right wing loon. Her business? She runs [Home Ed Plus](http://www.homeedplus.com/mission.html), supplying teachers (for pay) to supplement home schooling. The hideous website is full of non-working links, but does reveal the text for Biology. [(From Bob Jones University)](https://www.bjupress.com/product/268078) > [@](#): > > In the _Biology Student_ Text, students will see God’s power and glory in creation as they learn about cellular biology, genetics, taxonomy, microbiology, botany, zoology, and human anatomy. When studying topics such as Creation and evolution, human cloning, abortion, and stem cell research, students are pointed to Scripture as the ultimate authority and are encouraged to develop a biblical perspective about these topics. Why should this woman help “develop” curricula for Texas Public Schools? Here’s the Texas Freedom Network’s [dossier on this creature](http://tfn.org/tag/donna-bahorich/). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/17 "2016-03-29T17:25:35Z")
Looking forward to voting for Melissa Gilbert for Congress for my district, replacing Mike Bishop who himself replaced the reprehensible Mike Rogers, who is now a right wing radio host. Hoping we get a chance to recall the serial liar Rick Snyder out of the governor’s seat. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/18 "2016-03-30T14:50:55Z")
Here in Maryland, Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen, both currently in the House, are competing for the Senate seat of Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring. They’d both be good, but I’m for Edwards. The primary is on April 26. Down in Florida, I expect I’m not the only one who’s delighted to find out that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a good primary challenger in Tim Canova. Their primary is August 30. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/19 "2016-03-30T14:56:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > As an aside, I think Dems need to be putting a lot more focus on down-ballot candidates in all 50 states. Without such focus, the party is going to continue ceding local/state elections to Republicans, which is a terrible idea. I totally agree with that. And ever since Howard Dean got pushed out from his position as DNC chair, the Dems haven’t had much focus in that direction. Quite honestly, I think we need a progressive organization independent of the Democratic Party to take up the slack. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-downballot-candidates-are-you-passionate-about/750438/20 "2016-03-30T15:04:17Z")
Senate: Russ Feingold WI Supreme Court: JoAnne Kloppenburg