Washington, D.C., Oct. 27 – As voters head to the polls, candidates for U.S. Senate and governor, as well as local candidates in New York City and Los Angeles, have outlined their views on ensuring equal employment opportunities for the one-in-five Americans with a disability by responding to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility.
Candidates from all sides of the aisle completed the questionnaire, showing that disability rights is a nonpartisan issue. The responses also are geographically-diverse, coming from states around the country, as politicians are paying more attention to the disability community.
“Our nation was founded on the principle that anyone who works hard should be able to get ahead in life,” said RespectAbility’s President, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. “People with disabilities deserve equal opportunity to earn an income and achieve independence just like anyone else.”
According to a recent survey, 74 percent of likely voters have a disability themselves or have a family member or a close friend with disabilities. The upcoming elections and their results will have an impact on people with disabilities, so it is important to become familiar with the candidates’ thoughts on certain issues.
“Candidates for office ignore the disability community at their peril,” said former U.S. Representative and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett. Bartlett, who was a primary author of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, is the chairman of RespectAbility.
RespectAbility is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. The questionnaire is purely for educational purposes.
Below are links to detailed answers to the questionnaire. Every major party candidate for senate and governor was given an equal opportunity to address these issues and if they are not listed, it is because they declined to answer. Is your state’s candidate missing? There’s still time for him or her to respond and be included! Check out this linked Excel list for candidates’ contact information so you can call, email or tweet them encouraging them to complete the questionnaire!
| State | Gubernatorial Candidate | View Full Answers |
| Alabama | Walter Maddox | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/alabama-maddox |
| Alaska | Bill Walker (dropped out of race) | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/17/bill-walker |
| Colorado | Jared Polis | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/colorado-polis |
| Florida | Andrew Gillum | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/florida-gillum |
| Hawaii | David Ige | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/17/david-ige |
| Hawaii | Andria Tupola | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/08/andria-tupola |
| Illinois | JB Pritzker | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/illinois-pritzker |
| Iowa | Fred Hubbell | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/iowa-hubbell |
| Kansas | Laura Kelly | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/kansas-kelly |
| Michigan | Bill Schuette | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/michigan-schuette |
| Nevada | Steve Sisolak | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/04/steve-sisolak-nevada |
| State | Senate Candidate | View Full Answers |
| Delaware | Robert Arlett | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/delaware-arlett |
| Hawaii | Ron Curtis | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/17/ron-curtis |
| Maryland | Ben Cardin | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/maryland-cardin |
| Massachusetts | Elizabeth Warren | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/massachusetts-warren |
| Nevada | Dean Heller | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/17/dean-heller |
| Nevada | Jacky Rosen | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/08/jacky-rosen |
| North Dakota | Heidi Heitkamp | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/north-dakota-heitkamp |
| Ohio | Sherrod Brown | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/ohio-brown |
| Pennsylvania | Bob Casey | therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/25/pennsylvania-casey |
Candidates running for local office in Los Angeles and New York City also responded to a local candidate questionnaire. View their responses as well:
New York City candidates: therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/26/nyc-candidates
Los Angeles area candidates: therespectabilityreport.org/2018/10/26/la-candidates
Media Contact:
Lauren Appelbaum
laurena@respectability.org
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