How I Research Candidates

Published: July 25, 2020
Updated: September 10, 2026

I am not a reporter and I do not do independent investigative reporting. All my research is done online using Google as my search engine. Increasingly, that also includes working with Claude (Anthropic AI) as a research and drafting assistant on select posts. When I do, you’ll see a note like this one at the bottom of the piece: “This post was researched and drafted with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic AI). The content was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by the author. Both humans and AI can make mistakes. Please let us know if you spot one.”

I do not share gossip, rumors, or allegations unless in a published article from a reputable source that includes both the allegation and the candidate’s response. I exercise personal judgment in choosing which articles to include or exclude in my posts.

I subscribe to NewsGuard Ratings to ensure that the websites publishing the articles I cite or rely on are trustworthy. NewsGuard is a journalism and technology tool that rates the credibility of news and information websites and tracks online misinformation. It labels news sources with either a green or red icon, indicating general trustworthiness and whether there is a history of running stories labeled as fake news. (Wikipedia, 02/20/21)

Florida Politics is one of the few websites that consistently follow Florida elections. Its NewsGuard rating is 69.5/100 — “credible with exceptions.” There are cautions in the areas of “gathers and presents information responsibly” and “handles the difference between news and opinion responsibly,” which I take into account when I use it as a source.

Seeking Rents is a Substack newsletter and podcast written by Jason Garcia, an investigative journalist covering corporate influence on Florida public policy. It is a single-author outlet rather than a newsroom, so it doesn’t carry the layered editing and institutional fact-checking of a larger publication. Garcia is an award-winning reporter with a track record of original, well-documented reporting, and I take that into account when deciding whether and how to use his work.