Why we still recommend candidates
The midterm elections are upon us, and Texans will face choices in dozens of races that touch Harris County, from county offices to governor and attorney general, to seats in the Legislature, U.S. House and local and statewide benches.
The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board studies each of these races and makes recommendations for Republicans and Democrats alike in order to help readers make up their own minds. Those editorials begin today and will continue until early voting begins on Feb. 14, when we'll run a full list of our endorsements. We'll run it again on Election Day.
Our picks, and our process, always prompt questions. A few words about our philosophy and our approach:
If newspapers are objective, why recommend candidates? Newspapers don't endorse candidates. Editorial boards do. The editorial board is separate from the newsroom. It is made up of opinion journalists with wide-ranging expertise whose consensus opinions and recommendations represent the voice of the institution — defined as the board members, their editor and the publisher. We do it as a service to our readers and to our democracy, which cannot flourish without an informed citizenry. For many busy people, researching each candidate isn't possible. Rather than turn to partisan slates, some with pay-to-play motivations, we offer an alternative: informed candidate recommendations from nonpartisan journalists based on facts and careful analysis.
Which races are included ? Every contested statewide race, from governor to the Texas Supreme Court. Every contested race for Congress and the Texas Legislature on the Harris County ballot. Locally, we'll cover every contested Harris County office and the eight contested races for criminal district judge.
Any races we’re skipping? Yes. To protect quality, we've had to reduce quantity. We won't recommend primary candidates for county courts of law or justices of the peace, or for civil, family or juvenile benches. We regret these omissions and hope to include them in future elections.
What’s our process? We've tried to invite all candidates in each race to meet as a group with editorial board members for interviews via Zoom. For local judicial races, we're reaching out to individual candidates for one-on-one interviews. Lead writers research the candidates, conduct outside interviews and review background reports before making recommendations to the full board, which
reaches a consensus.
Do we only endorse candidates who agree with us? No. We often endorse candidates who don't share our opinions on contentious issues, focusing instead on core standards of effective leadership, such as integrity, honesty, a commitment to transparency, equity and the rule of law; and the ability to work with others. To better serve voters in a diverse array of districts, we also prioritize experience, knowledge of issues, fit with the district and general viability of the candidacy.
For judges, fairness and temperament are also strong considerations and, at times, the ideological diversity of the court. We give weight to incumbency, especially if it means seniority that benefits constituents, but we also scrutinize incumbents' records looking for results, responsiveness to constituent concerns and whether promises to voters were kept.
What if a race has more than one excellent candidate, or none at all?
Generally, we believe that if voters have to pick just one candidate, so should we. That can lead to tough choices, and occasionally, to our recommending a sub-par candidate simply because he or she is the best of the lot. Not every recommendation is full-throated. We encourage voters to go beyond our lists to read the full editorials, which convey our reasoning and level of confidence in each pick.
Whether or not readers agree with our ultimate choices, we hope the facts, observations and analysis in each written editorial recommendation serve as a helpful tools in voters' own research and decision-making.
We hope you'll follow along this campaign season, in print and online. As always, feel free to tell us when you think we got it right — and wrong! — with a letter to the editor: houstonchronicle.com/opinion/submit.