Since 1910, Citizens Union has evaluated candidates and published a Voters Directory that provides useful and important information to New Yorkers about candidates’ positions on city and statewide issues. With an ongoing desire to ensure that democracy works for all New Yorkers, Citizens Union annually evaluates candidates for New York City and State legislative races.
If you are a candidate seeking elected office, we ask that you please email candidates@citizensunion.org to be included. Your responses to the candidate questionnaire will be included in our annual Voters Directory and made available on our website. Returning the questionnaire will allow us to inform New Yorkers about your positions on key issues affecting the state. Please email completed questionnaires to candidates@citizensunion.org or via fax to 212-227-0345.
If you wish to be considered by Citizens Union for our designation of “Preferred Candidate” for the Primary Election and “Endorsed Candidate” for the General Election, you must complete the questionnaire and be interviewed by our Local Candidates Committee. To indicate your willingness to be interviewed, please mark the appropriate box on the questionnaire. We will not automatically schedule an interview with you if you return this questionnaire, as we prioritize competitive races, and resources constrain us from evaluating all races. Please contact us if you wish to be interviewed. We also welcome any additional information such as a résumé, campaign brochure, or issue statements.
Support for Citizens Union’s reform agenda is the primary criteria used in deciding our support for a candidate. We will also evaluate incumbent legislators and other currently elected officials not only on their views of state government reform, but also on how well they fulfilled the promises and commitments made during the last election. We will examine challengers on their support for reform, their ability to be effective state legislators, and the viability of their candidacy.
Please also see the attached document, which outlines the principles and process that guide our evaluation of candidates. This will help you better understand the criteria we use in our analysis of candidates and what you can expect from the process.