Since the method, not the mood
Strategic Liberty CoalitionPlaceholder data. Every candidate on this site is fictional. Scores demonstrate the method. They are not live election advice.
Highest-power issue: Emergency misdemeanors. Current recommendation: Endorse Greta Solano.
The governor signs or vetoes statutes, issues and withdraws executive orders, appoints agency heads, and proposes the budget. The office does not write a criminal penalty on its own.
Placeholder. Jail for peaceful trade under an emergency order.
Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 100 = 4 × 5 × 5.
The governor holds the order. A favored candidate who would end it is a clear call.
Endorse Greta Solano
Placeholder.
Formula: Endorse Greta Solano (The lead clears the toss-up gap.)
Fictional candidate
Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 115
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. Would end the emergency order.
Fictional candidate
Enforcement-first placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score -50
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. Would keep it.
Solano is favored and would end the order. Palmer would not. Clear call. Fictional.
Judges rule on warrants, constitutional limits, and how a penalty is applied. They do not rewrite a clear statute, and this scorecard does not ask them to.
Placeholder. Two judges, the same mild record.
Conduct 4 and penalty severity 4 (Felony imprisonment) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 80 = 4 × 4 × 5.
The court can require a warrant. These two slates do not tell the voter which one will.
Toss-up
Placeholder tie on a serious issue.
Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Tessa Blum. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)
Fictional candidate
Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 40
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. A mild warrant record.
Fictional candidate
Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 40
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. The same mild record.
Blum and Ng present the same record at the same odds. Toss-up. The warrant issue does not get a nominee it has not earned. Fictional.
The legislature drafts the statute, sets the penalty and the mental state, funds the agencies, and can sunset an emergency power. On most of these issues it holds the text.
Placeholder. Property taken without a conviction.
Conduct 5 and penalty severity 2 (License, property, or forfeiture) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 80 = 4 × 4 × 5.
The legislature writes the conviction rule.
Placeholder. Regulatory crimes with no knowledge element.
Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 80 = 4 × 4 × 5.
A default mental-state statute is a legislative act.
Endorse Lydia Crowe
Placeholder. Both slates lean the right way. One is substantially stronger.
Formula: Endorse Lydia Crowe (The lead clears the toss-up gap.)
Fictional candidate
Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 120
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. Full repeal on forfeiture, a narrower lean on mens rea.
Fictional candidate
Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 80
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. A one-step lean on both.
Both slates are better than an enforcement slate, and they are not the same. Crowe would require a conviction. Benton would only narrow the practice. The gap clears the toss-up rule at equal winnability. Editors endorse Crowe and publish Benton's lean so nobody thinks the other slate is the enemy. Fictional.
The attorney general decides appeals, civil enforcement, and often whether the state will defend a statute. Charging power over ordinary crimes may sit with county attorneys. The entry says so when that split matters.
Placeholder. The attorney general defends convictionless seizures.
Conduct 5 and penalty severity 2 (License, property, or forfeiture) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 48 = 4 × 3 × 4.
Declining the defense changes the practice. Winnability at the floor is still an endorsement if the lead is otherwise clear. Editors say the floor out loud.
Endorse Mina Kapoor
Placeholder. Winnability sits on the endorsement floor.
Formula: Endorse Mina Kapoor (The lead clears the toss-up gap.)
Fictional candidate
Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 2 · Score 33.6
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. An outside chance. Would stop defending convictionless seizures.
Fictional candidate
Enforcement-first placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score -27.6
Fictional placeholder. Not a real person. Favored, and would keep the defense.
Kapoor's winnability is a 2, which is the minimum the formula will endorse. Drewe is more likely to win and would keep defending convictionless forfeiture. Editors endorse Kapoor because the alternative is an active defense of the penalty, and they tell the reader this is an outside chance. Below a 2 they would have called a toss-up instead. She is fictional.