Introducing Lefty Cheat Sheet
Lefty Cheat Sheet is a quick guide on how to vote lefty using sources YOU trust. Fill out your ballot in a few minutes, and customize how the recommendations based on which groups you want to get advice from.
It’s dangerous for Seattle democracy that two for-profit media companies (The Seattle Times and The Stranger) currently determine the candidates who advance in every Seattle Primary election, and that Super PACs often influence the outcome of many General elections. No single organization makes perfect endorsements and no two voters agree on which set of organizations are the most trustworthy.
This site aggregates a range of endorsements from lefty member-driven organizations that are doing the work every day to advance policies. Endorsements from member-driven organizations are often based not only on the candidates’ positions, but on their experiences working with the candidates on solutions.
This site is a project of the all-volunteer Share the Cities Organizing Collective. This site is an independent civic informational tool, and we are not affiliated with, nor funded by, any electoral campaign or political action committe (PAC).
Please direct media, questions, and corrections to us at: contact@electioncheatsheet.org
Frequently Asked Questions
I Always Use The Stranger’s Voting Guide. Why Should I Switch To Using This Site?
The Stranger was bought out by Noisy Creek (a private, for-profit media company owned by a private group of investors) and has disinvested in its local political reporting. Their endorsement decisions are made by a team of employees plus one or two outside committee members selected by the company.
How Is This Different From The Progressive Voters Guide?
Progressive Voters Guide in Washington State is funded by Fuse Votes, an Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee (“Super PAC”) operated by Fuse Washington. Endorsement decisions are ultimately made by its employees and political campaign director and the most important (“controversial”) endorsement decisions are decided by the Fuse Washington Board (financial donors).
Why Aren't Labor Unions Included?
Firstly, they can be! All group inclusions and weightings are adjustable by you, the user, and your custom settings can be further re-shared.
Secondly, labor unions are excluded in our site's initial settings. While we respect and pay close attention to the decisions labor unions make for themselves, those decisions can be risk-averse and may not always align with transformative change for the broader public. While many labor union endorsements are fully aligned with their membership's values, some may instead reflect strategic alliances with the status quo, especially when it comes to voting on long-time powerful incumbent politicians.
How Does The Site Aggregate Endorsements? What is "Majority Pick"?
You control which endorsing organizations are counted, and how much each group is weighted. The total number of endorsements for each candidate are then multiplied by the weight multiplier for each organization group. The site recommends as "Majority Pick" the candidate with the highest weighted endorsement count that cross above 50%. If no candidate clears 50.01%, there is no Majority Pick. Dual endorsements splits weight evenly among the endorsed candidates. Tap “Modify sources” at the top of the page to see or change these settings.
What Races Does This Site Track?
Currently the site only tracks endorsements for elections in jurisdictions in Seattle or that overlap with some part of the City of Seattle. It could be expanded in the future.
Why Aren’t Any Endorsements From Elected Leaders Included?
Endorsements from elected leaders do not necessarily correlate with a candidate being left. Examples: