How do you plan to vote?

[Nutmeg]

Or how did you vote already? Inspired by Ernest's signature.

Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives: Tim Krepp (I)
Mayor of the District of Columbia: David Catania (I)
Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia: probably Phil Mendelson (D)
At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia (vote for 2): Elissa Silverman (I) and undecided, but anyone who's not Anita Bonds (D)
Ward 1 Member of the Council of the District of Columbia: Brianne Nadeau (D)
Attorney General for the District of Columbia: Paul Zukerburg
United States ("Shadow") Senator: undecided
United States ("Shadow") Representative: undecided
Ward 1 Member of the State Board of Education: David Do
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 1A08: Kent Boese
Initiative 71 - "Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014": undecided

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I just realized that every person I'm going to vote for is an incumbent except the DFL candidate for Secretary of State and that's only because Mark Ritchie isn't running again. No wonder this has been a boring election for me.

[Indy Texas]

U.S. Senator -- David Alameel (D)
U.S. Representative -- Sheila Jackson Lee (D)
Governor -- Wendy Davis (D)
Lt. Governor -- Leticia Van de Putte (D)
Attorney General -- Sam Houston (D)
Comptroller -- Mike Collier (D)
Land Commissioner -- John Cook (D)
Agriculture Commissioner -- not voting (might vote Libertarian or Green for the heck of it)
Railroad Commissioner -- Ryan Sitton (R)
Supreme Court Chief Justice -- William Moody (D)
Supreme Court Justice, Place 6 -- Larry Meyers (D)
Supreme Court Justice, Place 7 -- Jeff Boyd (R)
Supreme Court Justice, Place 8 -- Phil Johnson (R)
State Senator -- Jim Davis (D)
State Representative -- Amy Perez (D)
Harris County District Attorney -- Devon Anderson (R)
Harris County Judge -- Ed Emmett (R)
Harris County District Clerk -- Chris Daniel (R)
Harris County Clerk -- Stan Stanart (R)
Harris County Treasurer -- Orlando Sanchez (R)
Proposition 1 -- Yes

[IceSpear]

Governor/Lt. Governor - Tom Wolf/Mike Stack (D)
U.S. House - Bob Brady (D)
State Senator - John Kane (D)
State Representative - Nick Miccarelli (R)

[Goldwater]

U.S. House: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R)
State Senator: Brian Dansel (R)
State Representative 1: James R. Apker (L)
State Representative 2: Joel Kretz (R)

[Maxwell]

Governor - Joe Dorman
Lieutenant Governor - Todd Lamb
Auditor - Gary Jones (unopposed)
Attorney General - Scott Pruit (unopposed)
Treasurer - Ken Miller (unopposed)
Superintendent of Public Instruction - John Cox
Commissioner of Labor - Mark Costello
Insurance Commissioner - John Doak (unopposed)
Senate 1 - Matt Silverstein
Senate 2 - Connie Johnson
House - Jim Bridenstine
State Senate - Brian Crane
State House - Blank

[tpfkaw]

How I voted in the (contested races in the) MA Democratic primary:

Governor: Steve Grossman
Lieutenant Governor: Steve Kerrigan (won)
Attorney General: Maura Healey (won)
Treasurer: Tom Conroy
Governor's Council: Marilyn Devaney (i, won)

And barring any unexpected developments, how I'd vote in the contested general election races:

Governor/Lieutenant Governor: Charlie Baker/Karyn Polito

My vote is more about how Martha Coakley is a truly evil - and I do not use the term lightly - person than anything else (although I do like Baker). Dorothy Rabinowitz provides a short summary of her 1990s-early 2000s reporting on the Fells Acres Day Care/Amirault family case here.

The long and short of it is that during the "Satanic ritual abuse"/hypnosis/"recovered memory" hysteria, in 1986, the Amirault family, proprietors of Fells Acres Day Care, were alleged by "recovered memory" specialists to have repeatedly sodomized children with assorted sharp household implements (healing the wounds with their supernatural Satanist powers), while in a "magic room" of the day care that didn't exist, while dressed in clown suits, while sacrificing animals.

The elderly matriarch, Violet, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison, as was her daughter Cheryl, while son Gerald was sentenced to 40. By the 1990s, thanks in large part to Rabinowitz's reporting, it was obvious to anyone that the Amiraults were innocent, including the Massachusetts Parole Board (which is one of the least lenient in the country). However, Coakley used her position as Middlesex District Attorney to prevent the Amiraults' release; Violet died in prison, while she managed to prevent Cheryl's release until 1999 and Gerald's until 2004, simply because Coakley thought it would be politically advantageous to her. (When Cheryl and Gerald were finally paroled, Coakley applied the condition that they be forbidden from speaking publicly about the case!)

This isn't a isolated incident, either, when Kenny Waters was proven not to have committed the murder he was accused of, Coakley fought tooth and nail to prevent his release. There was a movie made about the case, Conviction, starring Hillary Swank; suffice it to say that it, rightly, does not put Martha Coakley in a positive light.

Senate: Brian Herr

Herr's a fairly inoffensive candidate who supports gay rights; Markey will win so this vote doesn't matter.

Attorney General: John Miller

Healey throws me absolutely no bones that would make me want to vote for her (she's against marijuana legalization, so that's out), so that leaves the platform she's running on of suing as many people who dare to do business in Massachusetts as possible (she got my vote in the primary because her opponent was even more extreme in this regard). She'll win, but I'm registering my displeasure by voting for the Republican in the race.

Treasurer: Mike Heffernan

The Democrat, Deb Goldberg, is the heiress to the "Stop & Shop" supermarket chain, and is trying to buy the position. She's also running a campaign based on lowest-common-denominator populism about how she's going to use the state pension funds as some sort of ATM machine slush fund to "invest" in politically-popular buzzwords X, Y, and Z, which strongly offends my sense of fiscal prudence in the non-political sense of the word.

I'm acquainted with Mike Heffernan personally, and think he's a good guy, and I also like his platform, which is focused on eliminating existing slush funds under the Treasurer's tutelage and giving the money back to towns in the form of local aid, and also that he'll refuse to sign off on the state's bizarre and reprehensibly wasteful plan to borrow $1 billion to expand the Boston Convention Center.

Auditor: Patricia Saint Aubin

If I were a hack focused solely on moving MA to the right, I'd actually be voting for Suzanne Bump, the Democrat. She's a ConservaDem who has mainly focused on investigating welfare fraud during her tenure, releasing several public reports to that effect and calling for welfare reform; the legislature has subsequently passed welfare reform legislation several times to vetoes by Gov. Patrick. Even if a Republican were to continue focusing on the same thing, it's unlikely that state house Democrats would act based on calls for welfare reform from a Republican auditor.

I'm voting for the Republican because Bump is unqualified for the position (she isn't a CPA), has poor personal judgement (she was delinquent on her taxes and had a convicted murderer on her campaign staff during the 2010 election when she was inexplicably first elected), and has had a messy scandal recently where a fired aide alleged that she used state resources for her campaign and protected officials in an audit of the Department of Children and Families as a quid pro quo for the SEIU endorsement.

Secretary of the Commonwealth: Bill Galvin

The 20-year incumbent. He has been pretty admirably competent and nonpartisan in the position; he hasn't interpreted election law creatively or pushed for dubious practices like all-vote-by-mail for partisan gain. He also seems to genuinely want to be the SoC rather than to use the position as a stepping-stone for higher office, which is a plus in my book. The Republican in the race is running on the moronic platform of allowing voting over the internet.

[Indy Texas]

I agree on the assessment of Martha Coakley. She's a repulsive woman who enabled innocent people to rot in jail over one of the most absurd trials that was basically a modern day Salem Witch Trial gone off the rails.

[SWE]

Not old enough to vote in 2014. If I was able to vote, this is who I'd vote for:

U.S. House: NOTA
NY Governor/Lt. Governor: Howie Hawkins/Brian Jones (G)
Attorney General: Ramon Jimenez (G)
Comptroller: Theresa Portelli (G)
State Senate: Mark Panepinto (D)
State House: Sean Ryan (D)

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Governor/Lt. Governor: Tom Wolf/Mike Stack (D)
US House: Brendan Boyle (D)
State Senate: Art Haywood (D)
State House: Steve McCarter (D)

[Donerail]

Not old enough to vote in 2014. If I was able to vote, this is who I'd vote for:

Governor and Lieutenant Governor: Charlie Crist and Annette Taddeo (Dem)
Attorney General: George Sheldon (Dem)
Chief Financial Officer: Jeff Atwater (Rep)
Commissioner of Agriculture: Adam Putnam (Rep)
State Representative - District 70: Undecided.
Board of County Commissioners: Pat Gerard (Dem)
Retain all judges
School Board District 7: Rene Flowers
Constitutional Amendment 1 (funds land conservation): Yes
Constitutional Amendment 2 (medical marijuana): Yes
Constitutional Amendment 3 (let Rick Scott have more influence in appointing SC justices): No
Greenlight Pinellas (levy countywide tax to expand rapid transit and fund local and regional passenger rail): Yes, for the 1% sales surtax


Atwater and Putnam are competent, and I'm not hackish enough to vote for the tomato cans the Dems put up in those races. In District 70, the Democrat, Darryl Rouson (Dem), is pro-voucher and anti-drug, but I have no idea what the independent Philip Garrett believes. I also don't particularly like the school board incumbent, but the write-in she's running against had spelling errors in her literature, which is sketchy for school board.

[Tender Branson]

Assuming I live in Boulder, CO:

Governor: John Hickenlooper/Joseph Garcia (D)
Attorney General: Don Quick (D)
Secretary of State: Joe Neguse (D)
Treasurer: Betsy Markey (D)
US Senate: Mark Udall (D)
US House: Jared Polis (D)
CO Legislature: the Democrats

Abortion: Recognizes unborn children as persons in the Colorado Criminal Code and Colorado Wrongful Death Act (Oppose)

Gambling: Establishes a K-12 education fund to be funded by expanded limited gaming at horse racetracks (Support, I guess)

Gov't Acc: Requires open school board meetings for collective bargaining negotiations (Support, I guess)

Business reg: Mandates labeling of certain foodstuffs that contain genetically modified organisms (Support)

[Franzl]

Durbin and Enyart

[TNF]

United States Senator for Illinois: Omar Lopez (Green)
Member of the United States House of Representatives for Illinois' 14th Congressional District: Not voting.
Governor and Lt. Governor of Illinois: Scott Summers and Bob Pritchett, Jr. (Green)
Attorney General of Illinois: David Black (Green)
Secretary of State of Illinois: Sheldon Shafer (Green)
Treasurer of Illinois: Julie Samuels (Green)
Comptroller of Illinois: Tim Curtin (Green)
Illinois State Senator for the 32nd District: Not voting.
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 64th District: Not voting.

Right to Vote Amendment: Yes
Crime Victims' Bill of Rights: Yes
Minimum Wage Increase Question: Yes
Birth Control in Prescription Drug Coverage Question: Yes
Millionaire Tax Increase for Education Question: Yes

[Redalgo]

US Senator for Montana: Amanda Curtis
MT Senate District #4: Diane Taylor
MT House District #8: Lynn Stanley

Public Service Commissioner #1: Travis Kavulla
Public Service Commissioner #5: Galen Hollenbaugh

Undecided on the judicial races - I usually put off candidate research until right before the election.
 
2014 Ballot Initiatives:

• Aye to renaming the position of Montana State Auditor.
• Nay to closure of late and same-day voter registration.

[Frodo]

U.S. Senator: Mark Warner (D)
U.S. Representative (VA -8): Don Beyer (D)

And the rest is basically local stuff no one outside of Arlington county cares about. 

[ElectionsGuy]

If I could vote, they're all down in my signature. All the local races as well as state legislature seats here are all unopposed republicans.

As for SoS, I think it shouldn't even be a partisan office. I've seen little to no substance from Julian Bradley, and nothing from Doug LaFollette, and the libertarian is some college student. Really apathetic here.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For completionist sake:

Senate: Al Franken
US House (MN-5): Keith Ellison
Governor: Mark Dayton/Tina Smith
Attorney General: Lori Swanson
State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
Secretary of State: Steve Simon
State Senator (District 62): Jeff Hayden
State Representative (District 62A): Karen Clark

I suppose Tina Smith isn't an incumbent either (The current Lt. Gov opted not to run again.)

[Paul Kemp]

Not Republican.

[Frodo]

Not Republican.

You're no longer aligning with the Republican Party? 

[Lief 🗽]

Hawkins for governor. Probably Democrat for everything else. I might vote for the Green instead of Rangel though. Also I haven't look at the three ballot propositions yet.

[Flake]

Not old enough to vote in 2014. If I was able to vote, this is who I'd vote for:

Governor: Farid Khavari/Lataresa Jones (Independent)
Attorney General: George Sheldon (Democrat)
Chief Financial Officer: Will Rankin (Democrat)
Commissioner of Agriculture: Adam Putnam (Republican)
U.S. House: Michael McKenna (Democrat)
Florida State Senate: NOTA
Florida State House: NOTA
Lake County Commissioner: Undecided
Lake County School Board: Marc Dodd (Independent)
Clermont City Council: Tim Murray (Independent)

[Dr. Cynic]

Governor - Tom Wolf
State Senate - Tim Solobay
State Rep. - Pete Daley
U.S. House - Alanna Hartzok (Or I'll just write my name in, it won't matter)

[MadmanMotley]

At the moment, (presuming the Republicans don't piss me off in the next month).
U.S. Representative: Marlin Stutzman
Secretary of State: Elizabeth White
Auditor of State: Suzanne Crouch
Treasurer of State: Kelly Mitchell
State Senator: Dennis Kruse (Unopposed)
State Representative: Casey Cox (Unopposed)

[LeBron]

Ohio Governor/Lt. Governor - Ed FitzGerald/Sharen Neuhardt (D), enthusiastically (I know I'm going to hear it from you guys after this one lol )

Attorney General - David Pepper (D)

Auditor - Undecided (It's a decision between Yost/Carney since I obviously won't vote for a Libertarian; Carney's a great candidate, but so is Yost and has had a successful 4 years as Auditor including challenging Kasich on JobsOhio, so I'm really unsure on this)

Secretary of State - Nina Turner (D), enthusiastically (Husted's going down!)

Treasurer - Connie Pillich (D), enthusiastically (I really want to hope Ohio won't re-elect someone who should be in jail right now)

U.S. House (OH-09) - Marcy Kaptur (D), enthusiastically (There's an Independent who's from my campus that's running, but I support Kaptur too much, politically and ideologically to vote for him)

State Senate (District 23) - Mike Skindell (D), enthusiastically

State House (District 13) - Nickie Antonio (D), enthusiastically (She's also gay and has attempted to pass several pieces of pro-LGBT legislation; she's also very transparent and a great person to get to know )

Cuyahoga County Executive - Armond Budish (D), enthusiastically (Budish is just plain awesome and his Republican opponent has a terrible, homophobic past and supported SB5)

Ohio State Board of Education (District 5) - Write-in: (Parma City Councilman) Scott Tuma (D) (No way am I voting for the unopposed Kasich-appointed Republican Brad Lamb)

Ohio Supreme Court (Term Commencing 1/1/15) - Tom Letson (D)

Ohio Supreme Court (Term Commencing 1/2/15) - John P. O'Donnell (D), enthusiastically

Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals (Term Commencing 2/9/15) - Sean C. Gallagher (D)

Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals (Term Commencing 2/10/15) - Larry A. Jones (D)

Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals (Term Commencing 2/11/15) - Patricia Ann Blackmon (D)

Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals (Term Commencing 2/12/15) - Anita Laster Mays (D), enthusiastically

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/1/15) - Michael J. Russo (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/2/15) - Nancy A. Fuerst (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/3/15) - Sherrie Miday (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/4/15) - Nancy R. McDonnell (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/5/15) - Brendan Sheehan (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/6/15) - Write-in: CM Punk (D) (The only one running is the GOP Kasich-appointed Robert McClelland)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/7/15) - Nancy Margaret Russo (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 1/10/15) - Shannon Gallagher (D), enthusiastically

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Term Commencing 2/9/15) - Deena R. Calabrese (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - General Division (Unexpired Term Ending 1/11/17) - Write-in: Harry Styles (Labour) (Joan Synenberg, unopposed, is a Kasich appointee)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - Domestic Relations (Term Commencing 1/8/15) - Rosemary Grdina Gold (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - Domestic Relations (Term Commencing 1/9/15 Leslie Ann Celebrezze (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - Domestic Relations (Unexpired Term Ending 1/12/17) - Francine Goldberg (D), enthusiastically

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - Probate (Term Commencing 1/1/15) - Anthony J. Russo (D)

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas - Probate (Term Commencing 2/9/15) - Laura J. Gallagher (D)

Issue 6 (Cuyahoga County) - Renewal for 1.2M tax levy + an increase of 0.9M to help fund Cuyahoga Community College for a period of 10 years - Yes!

Issue 11 (Cuyahoga County) - Additional requirements in order to be able to run for CC Executive/CC Council - Yes

Issue 12 (Cuyahoga County) - Changes the County Charter's composition of the County Audit Committee from the Fiscal Officer and County Executive to be replaced by a member of the CC Council appointed by the CC Council President and a resident of the county appointed by the CC Exec. and confirmed by the CC Council - No

Issue 13 (Cuyahoga County) - Accelerates the process of appointment, confirmation and commencement of the Charter Review Commission - Yes

Issue 14 (Cuyahoga County) - Proclaims that the right to vote is a fundamental right in Cuyahoga County with free and open elections, and that the county government must take action on enforcing this and promote voter registration/participation, which includes early voting initiatives - Yes!

Issue 54 (Lakewood-02 - D) - Permits sale of wine, mixed beverages and spiritual liquor on Sunday's between 10 am and midnight by 16-Bit North LLC - No!

Issue 55 (Lakewood-02 F) - Permits sale of wine, mixed beverages and spiritual liquor on Sunday's between 10 am and midnight by Jammy Buggars LLC - No!

FTR, our judicial and school board races are non-partisan, but for all intents and purposes, most are Democrats. Regarding Cuyahoga County Council, I'm in District 2, but this year's elections for it are only the odd districts (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11). I applied for an absentee ballot about 2 weeks ago, but I'm not sure if I'll vote in-person or by mail yet.