2020 Ratings

Candidate ratings by race

We invited candidates to participate in our ratings process by filling out a questionnaire, which can be found here.

CAPE rated candidates on a 1- to 5-star scale based on their answers to our questionnaire as well as whether or not they signed the Economic Recovery Pledge. Here is an explanation of the ratings and what they mean:

A champion for an economy that works for everyone - a true CAPEd crusader who will help Washington recover from this crisis in an equitable and sustainable way.

These are undoubtedly the superheroes we need in this moment, with a clear platform of putting people - who are “the economy” - over corporations and the ultra-rich. They are the bane of trickle-downers, and understand that no matter where we come from or what our background is, we all share the values of wanting to be able to provide for ourselves and our families, and contribute to our communities. They know that our economy is healthiest when everyone can afford to participate in it, and that increasing investments in people is the only way to save Washington’s families, small business owners, and our economy.

Strong in most areas of high labor standards, economic equity, high-quality public services, reforming Washington’s upside-down tax code, and recovering from this crisis. These candidates also all likely took the Economic Recovery Pledge to oppose knee-jerk budget cuts that will only worsen this recession.

These candidates demonstrated a knowledge or understanding of the proven policies that lead to a quicker, equitable, and sustainable economy. They are committed to growing our economy by making sure that the most people can participate in it, because the more people who participate in our economy, the more we all prosper. Additionally, they know that to both recover from this crisis and build a Washington that puts families and small business owners first, we need to reform Washington’s upside-down tax code. However, they either fell short in one of the areas we evaluated candidates on, demonstrating willingness but not leadership in reforming our tax code, or had recovery plans that were too incrementalist and not the bold, progressive actions that this crisis - and Washington voters - demand.

Middle of the road candidates in the areas of high labor standards, economic equity, high-quality public services, reforming Washington’s upside-down tax code, and recovering from this crisis.

These candidates are either good in some of the areas we scored in but not in others, or just OK across the board. Some might simply lack the depth of knowledge, demonstration of understanding, or command of the issues that our elected leaders must have to help people and our economy thrive. Others might have provided equivocating answers on how we recover our economy, despite available data from what has and hasn’t worked from previous recessions, or foisted responsibility onto the federal government.

Disappointing candidates in the areas of high labor standards, economic equity, high-quality public services, reforming Washington’s upside-down tax code, and recovering from this crisis.

These candidates might have the right talking points sometimes, but when it comes to creating an economy that works for everyone and putting people and small businesses above the rich and corporate interests, they’re more likely than not to make a mistake and choose poorly. These candidates need to do more work to understand how the economy actually works and where prosperity comes from.

Champion for the rich and corporations and defenders of the status quo. These are the trickle-downers who promoted the policies that primed our economy for this crisis, and suggest the same failed policies are the ones that will save us.

These candidates fail on high labor standards, economic equity, high-quality public services, reforming Washington’s upside-down tax code, and recovering from this crisis. They support an economy that puts profits above people and would rather help the rich get richer at the expense of everyone else.

To find out which legislative district you live in, you can use this tool from the Washington State Legislature website.

* next to a candidate denotes incumbent

Click on a race below to see your candidates' ratings:

1st Legislative District

Senate

Derek Stanford* - 4.75 stars

Candidate ratings by race

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