City Candidates Dominate Zenger News’s Candidate Connection Survey Responses In 2023

Over half of the Candidate Connection surveys received this year have come from candidates seeking city offices as of June 2023. Zenger News’s Candidate Connection seeks to provide voters with a better understanding of who candidates are and how they may govern. 

Survey responses tend to move in a cyclical manner; even-numbered election years see a high number of surveys from congressional and state legislative candidates, while individuals seeking city offices have made up almost half of the total survey respondents in odd-numbered election years. 

With municipal elections taking place in 76 cities in 2023, compared to 85 in 2022, and over four months until November general elections, 2023 could finish the year with the highest percentage of surveys from candidates for city offices to date. 

Furthermore, while odd-numbered election years typically see far fewer surveys overall, 2023 is only 19 surveys away from candidates for city offices surpassing the total number received from similar candidates in all of 2022.

While responses from candidates for city offices have already been high for the year, state legislative responses are low for a year with eight states holding state legislative elections, the most for an odd-numbered election year since 2011.

Produced in association with Ballotpedia

Edited by Daisy Atino and Deborah .C. Amirize