State government editorial approach

* Elections
* Executive elections, 2025
* Legislative elections, 2025
* Judicial elections, 2025
* State measure elections, 2025
* Recall elections, 2025
* State executives
* Offices
* Office changes
* State executive salaries
* State government trifectas
* State legislatures
* List of legislatures
* State Legislative Tracker
* Competitiveness study
* Historical elections
* Legislative salaries
* Term limits
* Vacancies
* Population represented by state legislators
* Legislative scorecards
* State courts
* Courts and judges by state
* Judicial selection in the states
* State supreme courts
* Intermediate appellate courts
* Ballot measures
* Measures by state
* Measures by topic
* Measures by year
* Additional coverage
* Elections
* Federal Politics
* Local Politics
* Public Policy
* Influencers
* Fact check
* News

Ballotpedia's editorial approach documents
Federal government
State government
Local government
Public Policy
Influencers
Fact check
Elections
Editorial independence

## Our mission[edit]

Ballotpedia's state government coverage informs and empowers citizens with fact-based analysis of state politics.

## Our editorial approach[edit]

Ballotpedia's state government coverage aims to tell a data-rich story about how politics works across the United States. We prioritize coverage of elections and appointments so that readers, writers and voters can have the basic information they need about candidates.

## Our coverage[edit]

State Executive Officials

This covers all of the major state executives in all 50 states. Elections and election news are prioritized. Major state executive offices covered by Ballotpedia include governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, superintendent of schools, and numerous other down-ballot offices.

State Legislatures

This covers the 99 U.S. state legislative chambers. Coverage includes articles on each legislator and candidate running for office. In addition to keeping our chamber data up-to-date, the project prioritizes analysis of competitive elections and battleground chambers.

State Ballot Measures

This covers ballot measures in the 50 states, including initiatives and referendums in the 26 states that allow them. Our in-depth coverage runs from the moment a measure is filed until the final voter decision, but our commitment to encyclopedic content means we even cover measures that don’t make the ballot.

State Courts

This covers all statewide courts, focusing particularly on intermediate appellate courts (IAC) and state supreme courts (SSC). We prioritize election and appointments, along with the resultant judicial and court profiles.

## Contact information[edit]

For questions about our editorial approach or coverage, please contact us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

## See also[edit]

* Federal government editorial approach
* Local government editorial approach
* Public Policy editorial approach
* Influencers editorial approach
* Fact check editorial approach

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Ballotpedia policy explainers

Candidates and officeholders|

How we define candidacy • How we research for proof of official candidacy (FAQs) • How we define noteworthy presidential candidates • How we define incumbency • How we handle partisan affiliation • How we cover campaign themes • How we write biographies • How we cover noteworthy events • How we cover noteworthy cases • How we organize social media platform links on person profiles • How we review person photo submissions • How we review candidate video submissions • How we verify Candidate Connection survey responses • How we handle Candidate Connection survey edit and removal requests

Election coverage|

How we choose battleground elections • How we cover primaries • How we order candidate lists • How we cover polls • How we cover endorsements • How we cover campaign finance and satellite spending • How we decide when to update vote totals on and after election night • How we decide when to call an election • How we decide when to cover a recall effort • How we cover election lawsuits and recounts • How we write ballot measure article titles • How we write original summaries of ballot measures • How we cover endorsements in support of or opposition to ballot measures • How we cover media editorial endorsements in support of or opposition to ballot measures • How we cover ballot measure campaign finance • How we calculate initiative signature petition costs • The Ballotpedia Power Index • How we handle court-ordered postponements of election dates and candidate filing deadlines

Scope, editorial approach, and other policies|

Ballotpedia's overall scope • Elections editorial approach • Federal government editorial approach • State government editorial approach • Local government editorial approach • Influencers editorial approach • Fact check editorial approach • Public Policy editorial approach • Editorial policy • Writing about key campaign messages • Writing about reports and analyses • Story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing • Story selection for presidential election news events • Editorial independence policy • By-district vs. at-large election boundaries • Partnership with Transparency USA • Criminal behavior and scandal policy • Ad policy • Privacy policy • MyVote privacy policy • Plagiarism policy • Image use policy • Copyright policy • Error correction policy • Content accuracy policy • Generative AI policy • Neutral point of view policy • Categories of bias • General disclaimer

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

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Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond
External Relations:  Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

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Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams, Managing Editor of Events • Joseph Greaney, Managing Editor of Policy • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Victoria Edwards • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Thomas Grobben • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Brandon McCauley • Andrew McNair • Ellie Mikus • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox