Byron LaMasters

Democratic political consultant at InFocus Campaigns. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Campaign Board, Eastern Caucus Chair. Texan in DC. 🌎 ✈️ 🏳️‍🌈

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@BrandonBest @maustermuhle For me, I had a general idea of who I wanted to vote for in the Mayor & Delegate races and primarily used this tool for the at Large Council race, and even there changed the order from what it gave me because of a positive interaction I’d had with one of the candidates.

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@BrandonBest @maustermuhle The main purpose for this isn’t to tell people who to vote for - everyone should do their own research! But… I think a unique challenge of RCV is that ranking candidates is new to voters and figuring out who to rank 2-5 is hard, and I created this to help with that.

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@SamPKCollins @DCDemocrats @WashInformer I’ve posted profiles of all the candidates for folks that are interested in learning more about the candidates individually instead of voting for a slate: https://t.co/6AYQJR1Ar8

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@BrandonBest @maustermuhle The main reason for that is because most of the candidates don’t have a record, so while comparing the voting records of the two council members in the Mayor & Delegate races would be useful, such an approach would leave out the other candidates.

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@BrandonBest @maustermuhle Good questions! Some of the initial feedback I got was concern about relying on AI, so I added sources & citation documentation page so people could check for themselves. The tool primarily measures what the candidates have promised vs. records, which I agree is a limitation!

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@edfischman @maustermuhle One limitation is that not all candidates filled out every questionnaire so data is incomplete for some candidates. I try to be as transparent as possible by linking to my sources for how each candidate is scored for each question.

[Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle]

This is so cool: @blamasters used candidate questionnaires and AI to build a voter education tool that lets you answer a few questions and helps you decide who you should rank in the races for D.C. mayor, delegate, At-Large member of the D.C. Council, etc. https://t.co/JAkhKxKoou

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@jrhp2016 I considered trying to make one survey that scored and ranked the candidates for every race, but gave up on it, since each race has different dynamics and different issue fault lines.

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@JRileyMW @jrhp2016 Thanks! That’s exactly how I intended it to be used. I didn’t vote the order it gave me in the Delegate race, for example. I mostly voted the order I got for at large, but bumped one candidate up from 4 to 2 because I’d met them & had a nice conversation with them.

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@andrewdefrank I created a guide with profiles for all the committee candidates here: https://t.co/6AYQJR1Ar8

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@AlexKomaDC I created a guide with profiles of all the candidates for those of us that actually wanted to know who we were voting for instead of just picking one slate: https://t.co/6AYQJR1Ar8

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@maustermuhle I have heard of lots of people holding onto their ballots since they haven’t decided who & how to rank candidates after their first & second choices. I created a tool to try to help! https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@dexterowilliams Good suggestions! Or you can just fill out my surveys and it’ll suggest the order of candidates that best matches your views. https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@mattyglesias If you need help deciding how to rank the candidates in the ranked choice races, I created a tool to help. https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@FeverPotomac I created a website with surveys for every race to help voters decide how to rank the candidates: https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@DMVNewLiberals @LisaJRaymond Did you have candidate questionnaires for this race? I don’t see it on your website, but if you do, I’ll use it to update my tool for voters that I built. I used the questionnaires that you posted for my mayor’s race survey: https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@mattyglesias Check out my survey tools for the DC primary that I build on Claude! I doubt that you’ll get JLG. https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@ZachBIsrael @Vote4DC One consequence of RCV is that it takes people longer to decide how to fill their ballot. Instead of one decision per race, there’s now up to five! I created a website to help people determine how to rank their ballot in the ranked choice races: https://t.co/xOJeAHllzB

[Byron LaMasters @blamasters]

@ZacharyDonnini S.C. Democratic leaders encouraged early voting as soon as possible to stop redistricting. Once ballots are cast, they’d have to be thrown out if redirecting were to pass, and voters who’d already voted would have legal grounds to sue to stop it.