Questions and Answers 
About Candidate Evaluations and Ratings

What is The Municipal League of King County?

Established in 1910, the League is a voluntary civic organization dedicated to effective and responsive government. League members are people like you, interested in maintaining good government and willing to get involved. They serve on the Candidate Evaluation Committees (CECs), participate in other League programs, and keep themselves informed about the issues facing local governments.

What is the Candidate Evaluation Program?

The Municipal League's Candidate Evaluation Program is unique in that it rates candidates according to their fitness for public office, not according to their political platforms. This year, four committees from throughout King County will meet during June to research, interview, and evaluate candidates running for state legislature and certain judicial positions.

The committees are composed of people of diverse backgrounds, ages, and political beliefs. Anyone may apply to serve on the committees, as long as they are registered to vote in King County, agree not to support any candidates being rated, and express a willingness to examine candidates without prejudice. Committee members with prior close contact to a candidate are excluded from rating that candidate and candidates in that race; those with close ties to their district party are excluded from rating any races in their district. Committee members are trained in the art of asking unbiased questions and do a considerable amount of “homework” as they learn about the issues in the various races.

What are the ratings and how are they determined?

Each candidate is given a rating of Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Adequate, or Not Qualified. The criteria used to reach these ratings are:

• Involvement: What has the candidate done previously in family, neighborhood, community, volunteer work, employment or public life to suggest readiness to accomplish challenging objectives? How do these activities demonstrate readiness for the challenges unique to the office sought?
• Effectiveness: Has the candidate demonstrated promise to be productive in the office sought? Has the candidate shown the ability to work with other people?
• Character: Do the candidate's personal traits show the ability to take on the responsibilities of campaigning for and holding the public office she or he is seeking? Is the candidate a leader, participant or observer?  Is the candidate trustworthy, reliable and consistent?
• Knowledge: Has the candidate demonstrated the willingness and ability to learn and adapt? Does the candidate understand the duties and challenges of the office sought? Does the candidate have a firm grasp of the issues important to his or her constituency and their potential effects?

Is the League really nonpartisan?

We make every possible effort to be so. We recruit from as wide a range of the county as possible, and we deliberately balance the membership of every committee. Committee members are trained to ask fair, unbiased questions. Overt statements of political opinion are barred from committee discussions.

How do we find out about candidates?

The Committee gets information from:

• Files on the candidate, including public disclosure reports, newspaper clippings, records of previous interviews, position papers, a questionnaire completed by the candidate, and other materials that the candidate is invited to supply.
• References provided by the candidate and others that are researched by committee members.
• Interviews with the candidate. Each interview lasts about 20 minutes.

Is the rating based entirely on the interview?

No. It is important to note that the interview is but one of several sources that the Committee uses to determine a candidate’s rating. Each candidate is assigned to a Committee member who researches that candidate’s activities using the candidate’s file (described above and provided by League staff) and by calling references supplied by the candidate and others identified by the Committee member. Candidates are also invited to supply the Committee with as much information as they wish.

What are the ratings and how are they distributed?

Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Adequate and Not Qualified are the ratings the League uses. The Committee’s recommended ratings are presented to the Board of Trustees for discussion and approval. After the Board votes to approve the ratings, they are printed in a report that is distributed to League members, the media, and the public prior to the primary and general elections.  All ratings are also posted on our website at www.munileague.org.  The League urges all voters to consider this report as only one of the many available sources of information about candidates running for election.

The Municipal League is the only organization that rates candidates without regard to political platform. We recognize our responsibility to both voters and candidates and make every effort to run this program as carefully and fairly as possible.

If I have other questions, whom should I contact?

Please contact the Municipal League Candidate Evaluation Coordinator, at cec@munileague.org, or 206-264-1070.