Before the August 2, 2018, Primary, we contacted all those running for governor and asked each one to participate in production of a series of nine video questions so that Tennesseans could learn where candidates for Tennessee’s Governor stand on issues concerning civil government, marriage, family, the separation of powers, and religious liberty. Read more about our process.
Letter Sent to the Gubernatorial Candidates
The third week in February, the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) sent letters to all the gubernatorial candidates, both the Democratic candidates and the Republican candidates, asking them to participate in our video voter guide. Those candidates included (in alphabetical order): Diane Black, Randy Boyd, Karl Dean, Craig Fitzhugh, Beth Harwell, Bill Lee, and Kay White. Participants who followed our guidelines and answered all 9 questions include Diane Black, Randy Boyd, Bill Lee, and Kay White.
Process Explained to the Candidates
Along with the mailed letter, FACT sent each of the candidates a list of nine questions we wanted to have answered dealing with civil government, marriage/family, separation of powers, and religious liberty.
We gave the candidates the option of whether they wanted to do the video themselves or to come to FACT’s headquarters and have us shoot each video answer interview style with FACT President David Fowler.
Candidates could choose to shoot their own videos in either interview style or have each candidate talk into the camera. Each candidate was told to answer each of the nine questions within 3 minutes. Any answers that were longer than 3 minutes would not be shown and noted as such.
List of Questions
Along with the letter and the video process, we sent a list of 9 questions.
List of Abbreviated Questions
For those candidates who chose to do their videos themselves instead of coming into FACT’s headquarters, we also offered a list of abbreviated questions that could be used as visual overlays or title slides on each video.