The MainStream Coalition is in the business of educating and promoting moderate political positions and values, yes, but you are the one who has to choose for whom to cast your vote. We can try to convince you of the importance of our positions, and tell you who supports them and who does not. But we can't tell you who to vote for.

Still, there are plenty of people who can. Politicians themselves. Their PACs. Our PAC. Outside groups with a shockingly large amount of money. The newspaper. Your grandmother. All the neighbors with yard signs on your way to work. People at the door. People on the phone.

We'd like to help.

Your Ballot

You already know our positions, and you probably have a good idea how your values fit with ours. The next step is to check out your ballot. Did you know you can see it before you go to the actual polls? Here are links, depending on your county:

• Johnson County - after entering your info, scroll down and select the election to see your ballot
• Wyandotte County - a countywide sample ballot is available
• Douglas County - there's a precinct lookup on the page
• For other counties, visit your election office online

Statewide and Local races

The MainStream Coalition's political action committee, MainPAC, has released their endorsements for statewide races and races local to Wyandotte, Johnson, and Douglas counties. The people endorsed, both Republicans and Democrats, represent a slate of politicians of a moderate stripe, interested in making Kansas better for all their constituents, not just those with the biggest pocketbooks.

• MainPAC's Endorsements for Nov 4 - your best source, if we say so ourselves. Print and take to the polls!
• True Blue Women Voter Guide - includes MainPAC and other organizations (KNEA, PP, Sierra Club, etc.)

Judicial Retention

Every election, voters go to the polls and vote for a few candidates they have heard of. Sometimes, the most informed voter will know who they want to vote for further down the ticket, too. We recommend that everyone study their ballots all the way down, and make an informed choice about who represents them.

But then everyone gets to the judges, and draws a blank. One ballot has ten elected positions, followed by twenty-two(!) judges. There are a lot of them, but on top of that, many aren't even local. Should I even vote on somebody in Wichita, you might ask?

Yes, you should. The basic idea is this, you'll vote on your local judges (in your District), then on statewide judges on the Kansas Court of Appeals, and also on judges on the Kansas Supreme Court.  Those last two are statewide, and can affect you as a citizen.

But who to retain, and who not? Judges don't often show up in the news, and they are not often targeted by political groups. In that light, we recommend the following documents as a good guide for Nov 4.

• Kansas 2014 Judicial Elections - Judgepedia, no opinions, just info on each judge.
• Editorial: Judging judges - LJ World, on judicial retention, politics, and the survey below
• 2014 Judicial Review Survey - Peer survey of judges by judges on who should be retained

If you don't agree...

We offer you the endorsements of groups who don't agree with us. You could look at these and vote the opposite (several folks have told us they will do that with MainPAC's endorsements...) These are the ones we could find that are... uh, diametrically opposed to us.

• Kansans for Life - exactly the opposite of MainPAC
• Kansas State Rifle Association (NRA) - Letter grades, though some races have no endorsement

Vote today!

Remember, it is both a right and a duty to cast your vote. So read the above, make your mind up, and go vote today. Advanced voting is taking place across Kansas (we're lucky, 14 states do not allow advance voting) and the polls are open today and all next week including Saturday. Here is information for the three local counties:

• Johnson County - pay attention to the Metcalf location, which has changed
• Wyandotte County - there is a satellite location as well as the elections office
• Douglas County - full details in a handy pdf (print it out!)

On top of that, you can vote on Monday the 3rd, but know that times and locations are restricted on that day.