VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
Strongly Favors topic 1: Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right (+5 points on Social scale)	Government should support embryonic stem cell research: Favors topic 1 Supported by women's groups for strong defense of abortion: Favors topic 1 Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right: Strongly Favors topic 1
Strongly Favors topic 2: Legally require hiring women & minorities (-5 points on Economic scale)	Discrimination against blacks means same against Jews: Strongly Favors topic 2
Strongly Favors topic 3: Comfortable with same-sex marriage (+5 points on Social scale)	Co-chaired "Mayors for the Freedom to Marry" effort: Strongly Favors topic 3 Backs same-sex marriage: Strongly Favors topic 3
Strongly Opposes topic 4: Keep God in the public sphere (+5 points on Social scale)	Creationism boggles the mind, two centuries after Darwin: Strongly Opposes topic 4 Candidates' religious beliefs should be kept private: Strongly Opposes topic 4
Favors topic 5: Expand ObamaCare (-3 points on Economic scale)	We can never afford to replace employer-based health system: Strongly Opposes topic 5 Individual mandate makes insurance affordable for all: Strongly Favors topic 5 Ban trans-fats and replace with fruit & vegetable vendors: Favors topic 5 $2.5B trust fund for NYC future retirees’ health care: Favors topic 5 Pay-for-prevention towards goal of universal coverage: Strongly Favors topic 5 Prioritize city healthcare on HIV, diabetes & hypertension: Favors topic 5
No opinion on topic 6: Privatize Social Security (0 points on Economic scale)	Don't kick the can down the road with retirement funding: Opposes topic 6 To reduce the deficit we must cut entitlements: Favors topic 6
Favors topic 7: Vouchers for school choice (+2 points on Economic scale)	Help public schools with deductibility of local taxes: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Slash bureaucracy; reward principal & teacher excellence: Favors topic 7 No more tinkering at margins: cut bureaucracy; add charters: Favors topic 7 No social promotion; more after-school: Favors topic 7
Strongly Opposes topic 8: Fight EPA regulatory over-reach (+5 points on Social scale)	EPA failing to focus on clean air and clean water: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Congestion pricing: fee for driving into Manhattan: Opposes topic 8 Reducing carbon output increases socio-economic well-being: Opposes topic 8 Investing in infrastructure critical to competitiveness: Opposes topic 8 Make NYC first environmentally-sustainable city: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Creative housing: deck over highways & build brownfields: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Clean up 7,600 acres of brownfields; build more parks: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Environmental justice: clean soot in poor neighborhoods: Strongly Opposes topic 8
Opposes topic 9: Stricter punishment reduces crime (+2 points on Social scale)	Apologizing for police racial errors kept city calm: Opposes topic 9 OpEd: never a conspicuous civil libertarian: Favors topic 9 Educate prisoners: build more classrooms at Rikers Island: Opposes topic 9 Reduced murder rate by focusing on domestic violence: Opposes topic 9 Mandatory minimum sentencing for gun crimes: Favors topic 9 Lock them up and throw away key, but no death penalty: Strongly Opposes topic 9
Strongly Opposes topic 10: Absolute right to gun ownership (-5 points on Economic scale)	80% of NRA members support background checks: Strongly Favors topic 10 Background checks do work, and should be highest priority: Strongly Opposes topic 10 2006: Created Mayors Against Illegal Guns; now 600 mayors: Strongly Opposes topic 10 Put the issue of illegal guns back on the national agenda: Opposes topic 10 2nd Amendment doesn’t prevent keeping guns from criminals: Strongly Opposes topic 10 Founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Opposes topic 10 It’s not about gun control, it’s about crime control: Opposes topic 10 Sued New York City gun dealers to control guns: Strongly Opposes topic 10
Favors topic 11: Higher taxes on the wealthy (-3 points on Economic scale)	Wealth tax is counterproductive and unconstitutional: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Progressive tax yes; wealth tax no: Favors topic 11 The wealthy prefer the current rigged system: Strongly Favors topic 11 Wealth tax is unconstitutional counterproductive: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Business have big cash reserves & need no tax cuts: Strongly Favors topic 11 Reduce 35% corporate tax by eliminating loopholes: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Tax cuts paying for themselves defies reality: Strongly Favors topic 11 GOP tax bill is an economically indefensible blunder: Strongly Favors topic 11 Expand the earned income tax credit to raise real wages: Favors topic 11 Raised property taxes to 18.5%, highest in history: Strongly Favors topic 11 2004: Refunded $250M to residential taxpayers, not business: Favors topic 11 $400 property tax rebate to all homeowners: Opposes topic 11 Raised property taxes 18% to pay off budget deficit: Favors topic 11
Strongly Favors topic 12: Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens (+5 points on Social scale)	America's greatness begins with immigrants, not with a wall: Strongly Favors topic 12 Normalize status of otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants: Strongly Favors topic 12 Border controls fight natural forces of supply and demand: Favors topic 12
Strongly Favors topic 13: Support & expand free trade (+5 points on Economic scale)	Protectionist viewpoint has a heavy price to country: Strongly Favors topic 13 Global economy isn’t zero-sum game: US & China can both gain: Strongly Favors topic 13 Tariffs to protect jobs end up helping foreign competitors: Favors topic 13 Staunchly for free trade and against protectionism: Strongly Favors topic 13
No opinion on topic 14: Support American Exceptionalism (0 points on Economic scale)	(No votes on which to base response)
No opinion on topic 15: Expand the military (0 points on Social scale)	(No votes on which to base response)
Strongly Favors topic 16: Make voter registration easier (+5 points on Social scale)	Fund voter registration in FL, WI, OH, MI, and PA: Strongly Favors topic 16 Make getting on the ballot easier, & better people will run: Favors topic 16
Opposes topic 17: Avoid foreign entanglements (-3 points on Social scale)	Nobody wants war to continue, but what happens next?: Opposes topic 17
Strongly Favors topic 18: Prioritize green energy (-5 points on Economic scale)	$218M effort led to closure of 282 coal-fired power plants: Strongly Favors topic 18 America should be big part of climate solution: Strongly Favors topic 18 If some countries do right thing on climate, we all benefit: Strongly Favors topic 18 US must set real and binding carbon reduction targets: Strongly Favors topic 18 While greenhouse gas pollution is free, it will be abundant: Favors topic 18 PlaNYC: convert 13,000 taxis to hybrids or high-efficiency: Strongly Favors topic 18 Direct charge over cap-and-trade, to raise cost of carbon: Strongly Favors topic 18 Reduce NYC carbon emissions by 30% by 2030: Strongly Favors topic 18 $8 fee to enter NYC by car, to encourage mass transit: Strongly Favors topic 18
Favors topic 19: Marijuana is a gateway drug (-3 points on Social scale)	No legalization; pot lowers IQ by 5 to 10 points: Strongly Favors topic 19 You bet I smoked pot; and I enjoyed it: Strongly Opposes topic 19 NYPD will continue to vigorously enforce drug laws: Favors topic 19
Strongly Favors topic 20: Stimulus better than market-led recovery (-5 points on Economic scale)	Raised taxes on high-earners to incent municipal employees: Strongly Favors topic 20 Balanced $6B deficit with higher property taxes: Favors topic 20