About Our Endorsements
The Inquirer Editorial Board — which operates independently of the newsroom — interviews candidates, researches the issues, and debates vigorously before recommending who would best serve the public.
Prior to each election, The Inquirer Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom, offers endorsements to help readers evaluate candidates for public office.
The Editorial Board believes all elections matter and is committed to weighing in on as many races as possible. However, given time constraints and operational capacity, it focuses its endorsements on races where its analysis can best clarify the choices facing voters. The lack of an endorsement is not a judgment on an office or those seeking it.
After researching the positions and professional records of each candidate, the Editorial Board hosts meetings — either in person or virtually — where members ask candidates about their stance on issues that concern the broadest public interest. The meetings are on the record, and The Inquirer’s political reporters and editors may be invited to observe the interviews, but they do not participate in the Editorial Board’s endorsement discussions.
Once the meetings conclude, the Editorial Board debates and decides by a majority vote who is best suited to serve their constituents.
The Editorial board’s assessments reflect the collective judgment and diverse perspectives of its members — not the opinion of any single journalist.
A frequent critique of endorsements is that they are tantamount to telling readers how to vote. That is not the goal. The measure of the Editorial Board’s recommendations lies not in whether an endorsed candidate wins, but rather the extent to which the Editorial Board’s arguments help elevate public discourse surrounding election campaigns.
Sometimes an endorsement reflects a difficult choice between imperfect options — but this deliberative work underscores the importance of the democratic process and exercising the right to vote.
In a time of deep ideological division and a fragmented media landscape, an experienced, independent editorial board provides readers something increasingly rare: a centralized source of insight, context, and civic perspective.
About our editorials
Editorials express an opinion about a matter of policy or public interest that has been researched and written by our Editorial Board, a group of journalists separate from the newsroom. Unlike news stories, which are fact-driven and written by reporters, editorials advocate, champion, argue, critique, and offer solutions. Editorials are not intended to dictate what readers should think, but to cut through the noise of polarized debate and provide a catalyst for elevated discourse.
