Be a #PutHousingFirst Voter
Stay tuned for the publication of our Fall 2022 Candidate Scorecard!
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What do our grades mean?
Our finalized grades are calculated based on the responses we received from our questionnaires as well as an interview score given to each candidate. Final grades are not an endorsement. Rather, our scorecard is meant to inform voters of where candidates stand on affordable housing issues.
Candidates who submitted completed questionnaires but did not participate in an interview could not surpass a maximum of a 71% C based on their questionnaire responses. Candidates who failed to respond or complete their questionnaires received a 0% F.
Incumbents who completed their questionnaires and interviews were also held to a review of how their time in office either promoted or hindered the preservation and production of affordable housing in Orleans Parish.
Review the questionnaire responses from this year's Clerk of Second City Court Election below.
How It Started
In 2017, the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance (GNOHA) developed the first #PutHousingFirst Platform outlining the needs for New Orleans residents along with public policy recommendations to meet those needs. #PutHousingFirst released their first Candidate Scorecards that same year for both the municipal election and general election in New Orleans.
#PutHousingFirst continued to provide voters with Candidate Scorecards in the 2018 election for Congressional District 93 Representative. For the November 2018 election, #PutHousingFirst began including ballot initiative analyses into their scorecards to break down how constitutional amendments or propositions impact affordable housing development. These efforts carried on into the 2019 election, 2019 Parishwide Propositions, 2020 election, and 2020 run-off election.
For the Fall 2021 election, GNOHA sent #PutHousingFirst Platform Questionnaires to over sixty candidates running in eleven races for State Representative of District 102, New Orleans Sheriff, New Orleans Assessor, New Orleans Mayor, Councilmembers-At-Large for Divisions 1 and 2, and City Council for New Orleans’ five districts, which yielded a 62.5% questionnaire response rate and 35 candidate interviews across all races -- the highest engagement the #PutHousingFirst campaign has had since first establishing the Candidate Scorecard process.
The questionnaires sent to the 2021 Councilmember candidates lifted up voters' concerns about climate change’s impact on the future of their city and the lack of progress on working affordable neighborhoods to survive storms like Hurricane Ida in the future. The candidates were also asked to make a commitment to New Orleans communities over the powerful corporate influence of companies like Entergy and elected officials selling out to the fossil fuel industry while neighborhoods remain vulnerable to severe weather.
The percentage grades for the 2021 City Council and Sheriff run-off candidates, methodology for grading, and affordable housing platform questionnaire responses can be found here. The final grade calculations for the 2022 candidates running for 2nd City Court Clerk can be found here.