Do You Support Us? A Non-Profit's Experience In Designing a Candidate Questionnaire

Abstract

During the 2021 municipal election cycle, organizers at Urban Librarians Unite published the responses of over 100 political candidates running for office in New York City. The twelve question survey focused on public and school libraries in New York City, and shed light on candidates’ attitudes towards public funds, infrastructure, and the role of city government in public services.The questionnaire was sent out to 319 candidates running for City Council and 84 candidates running for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, and Borough President, using data from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s City Election Initiative, as well as additional data collected by the organization about candidates running for city-wide office in 2021. In this presentation, participants will learn about the process the organizers used to plan and execute the political questionnaire. This will cover the policy research behind the questionnaire, the application of the open data, and the results of the project. After attending this session, participants should be able to evaluate if a similar project is appropriate for their organization and be able to set-up a similar project. As the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism does not appear to be continuing to update their City Elections Initiative, the organizers are also look for community feedback for similar data available for future elections.