Talk:Party affiliation

This article was created because Tracy had asked for clarification on our style for referring to electeds.

Here's her email:


 * For consistency, does the VOC stylebook say how we designate state legislators and members of Congress? My personal preference for legislators is to use the town where they actually live although I know some news organizations use the biggest town in their district. For members of Congress from California, I like that same style and for those from out-of-state it would be D or R-Mississippi or Rhode Island or whatever state their district is in. But have we decided what our style definitely is? Thanks.

Here was my response:


 * ... The style I prefer -- and I borrow this idea from the LA Times -- is to use the congressperson's main district office. It's more readily verifiable than where, exactly, somebody lives within their district, and the office location is often fairly representative of the district. AP Style, though, is to use the home city (if I'm not mistaken; I don't have my style guide in front of me at the moment).


 * So ... Loretta Sanchez, who lives in (possibly) Anaheim but has her main district office in Garden Grove, would be "Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove." See this link, for example. For U.S. Rep. John Campbell, we'd say "Rep. John Campbell, R-Newport Beach," even though (I think) he lives in Irvine somewhere. "Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach" (whose district includes parts of Los Angeles County) and so on.


 * Likewise with state Assembly and state Senate: "state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana" (office and residence in Santa Ana). Or: "state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine" (doesn't he live in Newport?).


 * Then -- like you said -- anybody from out of state would be "Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn." Her district particulars don't much matter to Orange County readers.


 * California's U.S. senators would be identified as being from California, though, because they represent the whole state. "U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif."


 * Thoughts?

I'm open to debate and suggestions on this style (and others, of course). What do we think? -MKB 05:55, October 14, 2010 (UTC)