At long last, it’s time to decide on Election Day

To endorse or not to endorse political candidates. That is an interesting topic in the days leading up to the Nov. 5 General Election, with a presidential race seizing the nation’s attention in what promises to be a tightly contested finish.
At the national level, giving the nod to one candidate or another has been a tradition at many of the nation’s leading newspapers, though that trend is changing for a variety of reasons. Notably, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Minnesota Star Tribune announced last week that they would not be endorsing either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, with one explanation offered that editors “have faith in readers ability to make up their own minds.” The News-Register agrees with that philosophy and will not be casting an editorial vote for president.
I’ve also been asked if the ANR editorial page will be endorsing any candidates for local office, and again the answer is no, for much the same reason. Rather than promoting one candidate, ANR’s goal this election year, as in the past, has been to offer a platform for all candidates to present their ideas, allowing readers to form their own opinions.
As explained in the Sept. 25th edition in this space, ANR’s coverage is focused on hyper local content, providing information and insight on local issues that no other news source does. We invited candidates for all local offices, whether they are incumbents, newcomers, or write-ins, to share their backgrounds, views and priorities if elected. Those personal profiles were published Oct. 2 through Oct. 23, and if you missed a particular race of interest copies are available at our office.
In the races for Aurora City Council, we took an extra step this year and hosted a candidate forum, due to a late surge of interest in that race which drew three write-in candidates during the stretch run. We thought it was important to provide as much information as possible by letting candidates speak for themselves, empowering voters to make informed decisions based on first-hand information.
ANR staffers have long sought to be a trusted source of information in the community, and our primary mission remains to inform, not to influence.
One thing I think all can agree on is that it’s time for this election to be over, so that we can move forward, hopefully together, as a community, state and nation. Please be sure to vote.
KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net