A Candidate-by-Candidate Look at the 2026 Hall of Fame Election Results

The next article is a part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing have a look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2026 Corridor of Fame poll. For an in depth introduction to this yr’s poll, and different candidates within the collection, use the software above; an introduction to JAWS might be discovered right here. For a tentative schedule, see right here. All WAR figures consult with the Baseball Reference model until in any other case indicated.

The 2026 Corridor of Fame election is historical past, with a pair of middle fielders who had been born in the future aside, fourth-year candidate Carlos Beltrán (born April 24, 1977) and ninth-year candidate Andruw Jones (born April 23, 1977), elected by the Baseball Writers Affiliation of America. That is the fourth time two gamers from the identical place in addition to pitcher had been elected by the writers in the identical yr. Proper fielders Harry Heilmann and Paul Waner had been the primary pair in 1952, adopted by proper fielders Henry Aaron and Frank Robinson in ’82, with left fielders Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice elected in 2009. That’s some spectacular firm!

Beltrán and Jones can be inducted into the Corridor together with Modern Baseball honoree Jeff Kent on July 26, 2026, on the grounds of the Clark Sports activities Heart in Cooperstown, New York. There’s no official phrase but on which caps the gamers can be carrying on their plaques — the Corridor has the ultimate phrase — however odds are they’ll be those that you just anticipate. Mentioned Beltrán, who’s at present a particular assistant for the Mets, “There’s little doubt that the Mets are a giant a part of my id.” Kent has expressed his need to put on a Giants cap, and Jones is nearly sure to put on a Braves cap.

As regular, past the topline outcomes, there’s lots to digest from Tuesday’s returns. In order promised, right here’s my candidate-by-candidate breakdown of your complete slate of 27 candidates, 13 of whom will return to the poll subsequent yr. Be aware that references to percentages in Ryan Thibodaux’s indispensable Tracker might distinguish between what was logged on the time of the announcement at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday (245 complete ballots) and what’s in there as of Thursday at 9 a.m. ET (254 complete ballots)

Gio Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick, Daniel Murphy (1st yr on the poll, 0.0%)

It’s that point of yr, my annual alternative to invoke the reminiscence of Vin Scully, who appreciated to remind viewers, “Additionally they serve who solely stand and wait.” In response to Baseball Reference, 130 gamers final appeared within the majors in 2020, however simply 12 of them (9.2%) lasted lengthy sufficient and had careers substantial sufficient to land on this poll. So this bears repeating yearly: There isn’t any disgrace in being shut out on a Corridor of Fame poll. A checkbox subsequent to those gamers’ names is the reward for his or her individually spectacular careers, and with yearly that I do that, my appreciation for the endurance, perseverance, and good luck it takes simply to get so far grows.

All three of those guys — every a Florida native, coincidentally, with the 2 Jacksonville-born place gamers among the many greatest contact hitters of their time — had some memorable moments and nice seasons. I significantly loved revisiting the profession of Kendrick, who by no means gained the batting title that was anticipated of him after a minor league profession with a .358 batting common however did nothing lower than hit a Sport 7-winning residence run within the 2019 World Sequence in opposition to the Astros, that after successful NLCS MVP honors and, oh, additionally hitting a decisive grand slam in Sport 5 of the Division Sequence in opposition to the Dodgers. I believe in the event you informed any baseball-loving child that he’d attain the majors and get to do all that however wouldn’t get a single vote for the Corridor of Fame, he’d take that deal in a heartbeat. I do know I’d.

Alex Gordon (1st, 0.2%), Matt Kemp (1st, 0.5%)

We don’t but know — and should by no means know, until they arrive ahead — which voters included these candidates on their ballots, not as a result of they earnestly believed they’d a shot at election however as a result of they’d room and wished to salute them for his or her tremendous careers, make a particular observe of their significance, or supply gratitude for making the author’s job a bit simpler or extra fascinating. Such gestures was extra widespread earlier than the ballots grew to become overcrowded. On what was a relatively weak poll by which voters included a median of 5.77 gamers — the bottom mark since 2012 — there was room to do this.

Nick Markakis (1st, 0.2%), Hunter Pence (1st, 0.5%), Rick Porcello (1st, 0.5%)

A number of voters did clarify their causes for together with these guys inside their poll explainers, offering some welcome perspective.

Our Esquina’s José deJesus Ortiz, who lined Pence for the Houston Chronicle: “I closed my poll with a vote for Hunter Pence, one among my all-time favourite guys to cowl. My vote for Pence is extra of a tribute to the best way he performed the sport and the enjoyable he delivered to followers.”

NJ.com’s Steve Politi, who lined Porcello on the Newark Star-Ledger: “This little doubt will result in some social media vitriol, however once you’re the sports activities columnist for a New Jersey web site, every so often, you get to salute one among your individuals. Porcello, a former Seton Corridor Prep ace, is probably going going to drop from consideration after one yr. I had room on my poll, and so I’m tipping my cap to the Jersey man on an amazing profession.”

Former Orioles beat author Dan Connolly, who lined Markakis for the Baltimore Solar: “Markakis is likely one of the most underrated and underappreciated within the historical past of the sport. Nobody within the Orioles’ clubhouse throughout that point was extra revered. Nobody in that clubhouse performed tougher or extra typically than Markakis.”

Shin-Soo Choo (1st, 0.7%)

A decade in the past, I raised a little bit of a global stink when Chan Ho Park — who spent 17 seasons within the majors (1994–2010), gained 124 video games (nonetheless the key league report for a participant born in Asia, one forward of former teammate Hideo Nomo), and have become the primary South Korea-born participant to make an All-Star group — was left off of the 2016 Corridor of Fame poll. It felt like a pointless snub. “Like Hideo Nomo, who blazed a path for contemporary Japanese gamers to come back to the majors, Park deserves the popularity that comes with a spot on the poll,” I wrote for SI.com. I’ve made noise about different slights since then, and fortunately the state of affairs has improved over time, so I used to be significantly glad to see Choo make the poll. He wasn’t the majors’ first South Korean place participant to achieve the majors, however he’s been by far essentially the most profitable.

Choo obtained three votes, although just one is recognized within the Tracker. Rangers beat author Jeff Wilson defined his Choo vote at size, concluding, “Sometime a participant from Korea will make the Corridor of Fame and can reference Choo because the countryman who paved the best way. The pioneering side of his profession is worthy of a checkmark on my Corridor of Fame poll.”

Edwin Encarnación (1st, 1.4%)

Six voters tipped a wing to the slugger and his parrot. With the elections of Beltrán and Jones, Encarnación now ranks nineteenth in residence runs (424) amongst gamers outdoors the Corridor of Fame. Two of these above him on the record, Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, can be first-ballot decisions within the subsequent few years, one (Giancarlo Stanton) remains to be energetic, and 11 have been linked to performance-enhancing medication, which leaves Encarnación within the firm of Carlos Delgado, Adam Dunn, and Paul Konerko, all of whom went one-and-done on their respective ballots as properly however are fondly recalled nonetheless.

Ryan Braun (1st, 3.5%)

One of the best place participant amongst a relatively weak crop of first-year candidates was doomed to fall off the poll by each his quick profession and his two PED suspensions, the primary of which was overturned by an arbitrator in 2012 and surrounded by reasonably despicable conduct, and the second of which was one big “Advised Ya So.”

Torii Hunter (sixth, 8.7%, up 3.6%)

A yr in the past, Hunter scraped by with precisely sufficient votes to stay eligible, however this time round, the coattails of the 2 elected middle fielders had been lengthy sufficient to hold him to his highest proportion since his 2021 debut (9.5%). All 16 of the ballots that embody Hunter within the Tracker at this writing embody Beltrán as properly, and all however two embody each Beltrán and Jones; among the many eight returning voters who added Hunter, seven had the opposite two.

Hunter’s 9 Gold Gloves and 110 OPS+ will hold some supporters evaluating him to Jones (10 Gold Gloves and 111 OPS+), however the defensive metrics don’t put them in the identical league. In response to Baseball Reference, they’re separated by 201 fielding runs (Jones ranks first on the place with 235) and thus 12.1 profession WAR, 15.6 peak WAR, and 13.9 factors of JAWS; Jones ranks Eleventh, Hunter thirty fifth. I think we’ll hold listening to about him as a possible Period Committee candidate sometime nonetheless.

Francisco Rodríguez (4th, 11.8%, up 1.6%)

Regardless of final yr’s election of Billy Wagner and a small coattail impact, Okay-Rod didn’t expertise a sudden surge of latest curiosity from voters. Whereas he has the very best saves complete of any eligible reliever outdoors the Corridor (437, sixth all-time), he’s been bumped down in these rankings previously two years by the still-active Kenley Jansen (476) and Craig Kimbrel (440), and he’s simply 14th in R-JAWS, the place Wagner is seventh and Jansen has climbed to sixth. Rodríguez gained’t generate the identical goodwill as Wagner as a result of he was arrested twice, first in 2010 for assaulting his girlfriend’s father (leading to a responsible plea, a season-ending damage, and the lack of his wage for the time missed) after which in 2012 for a separate incident of home violence in opposition to his fiancée (these prices had been dismissed when she and a witness to the alleged assault left the nation). Not like final yr at this juncture, he’s obtained much less help on non-public ballots than public. I don’t suppose he’s going wherever, electorally talking.

David Wright (third, 14.8%, up 8.7%)

Once more, Wright seems to have benefited from the arrival of Dustin Pedroia, along with his equally formed profession as a participant on a Cooperstown path earlier than accidents intervened. In response to the Tracker, of the 16 voters who added Wright to their ballots this yr, 12 included Pedroia both as a holdover or a fellow new addition. Whereas I don’t suppose Wright goes to rally like Jones to achieve entry from the writers — if he did, he’d set a brand new report for the bottom first-year proportion (6.2%) — he’s in all probability constructed sufficient of a cushion to finish a 10-year run on the poll. The final candidate to make it by not less than three ballots earlier than slipping under 5% was the PED-linked Rafael Palmeiro, who topped out at 12.6% in 2012, his second yr, however fell off simply two years later within the last cycle earlier than the Corridor unilaterally truncated candidacies to 10 years. Since then, all people who’s cleared 5% of their second yr has lasted all 10 years, although as famous, Hunter had a really shut name.

Omar Vizquel (ninth, 18.4%, up 0.6%)

Time continues to run off the clock for Vizquel, who seemed to be on a path in the direction of election — with 52.6% on the 2020 poll — earlier than bombshell reviews at The Athletic took away the good-guy picture that undergirded a candidacy lengthy on conventional credentials however quick when it comes to superior stats. In December 2020, Katie Strang and Ken Rosenthal reported allegations from Vizquel’s now ex-wife concerning a number of home violence incidents, whereas in August ’21, Strang and James Fegan reported on a sexual harassment lawsuit introduced by a former batboy from the minor league group Vizquel managed; the latter was settled out of court docket. Vizquel fell just a few factors from 2020 to ’21, as many citizens had already solid their ballots by the point the report was revealed, however he plummeted to 23.9% in 2022 — an unprecedented drop — and is net-negative since then, even with decimal-point good points within the final two cycles. This time round, we didn’t get any reviews of determined outreach efforts; Vizquel did return to managing for the primary time since 2021, piloting a group in Nicaragua’s winter league. Of the 37 new voters whose ballots had been revealed previous to the announcement, simply two voted for him.

Mark Buehrle (sixth, 20%, up 8.6%)

Although he didn’t achieve practically as a lot floor as Félix Hernández or Andy Pettitte, the deal with beginning pitching requirements benefited Buehrle as properly. As I mentioned in a Tuesday afternoon spot on MLB Now (click on the hyperlink, or scroll to three:11 on the video inside the Bobby Abreu entry under), as soon as I got here round to supporting these two starters — every of whom I included as my Tenth man lately — and Cole Hamels, I discovered causes to justify Buerhle’s inclusion. He had a better peak WAR than Pettitte, was equally underappreciated within the Cy Younger voting like Hamels, and in contrast to Hernández (who by no means pitched within the postseason) had a big position on a World Sequence winner. Above all, he exhibited a stage of sturdiness we’re unlikely to see once more. I’d nonetheless characterize my help for Buehrle as smooth, and I’m positive I’m hardly alone in that regard, however this yr’s enhance just about ensures he’ll spend the total 10 years on the poll and stay a part of the continued dialogue about starters.

Dustin Pedroia (2nd, 20.7%, up 8.8%)

The previous MVP and two-time champion (three in the event you depend 2018, when his knee damage restricted him to a few video games) took a step ahead when it comes to his voting share, and I believe he stands to make even larger good points within the coming years because of a confluence of things.

The election of Jones opens the door for the writers to elect different candidates with fewer than 2,000 hits (Pedroia has 1,805). The eventual election of Chase Utley may create a coattail impact; like Utley, Pedroia matches into the “short-career second basemen who had been stars on a number of pennant winners” bucket, however with significantly extra {hardware} (MVP, Rookie of the 12 months, 4 Gold Gloves, three World Sequence rings). And the election of Kent gives an instance of a current honoree amongst second baseman with inferior superior statistics; Pedroia is twentieth in JAWS, Kent twenty second in a profession with over 40% extra plate appearances.

Given the actually dozens of nice gamers who may need been Corridor of Famers if not for career-curtailing accidents, I’m not but satisfied Pedroia belongs on my poll. I had room this yr however bypassed him, however I’ve eight extra years to rethink that call.

Cole Hamels (1st, 23.8%)

Hamels made a strong poll debut, notably outdoing each Hernández (20.6% final yr) and Mike Mussina (20.3% in 2014). The distinction is that Mussina did that on essentially the most crowded poll of the trendy period (post-1966) in time period of gamers assembly the JAWS commonplace at their place (14), whereas Hamels did it on the weakest one in twenty years utilizing that very same measure (three):

At this writing, Hamels has the fourth-largest public-to-private drop of any candidate at 18.2% (31.1% public, 12.9% non-public). Mussina had even wider gaps in all however his first yr, and naturally he amassed a lot larger counting stats in a profession that was over 800 innings longer (albeit with the identical 123 ERA+), however the occasions they’re a-changin’. Perhaps not sufficient to assist Hamels get elected à la Mussina half a decade from now, however actually sufficient to maintain him within the dialog.

Jimmy Rollins (fifth, 25.4%, up 7.4%)

Tuning into MLB Community’s protection on Tuesday each earlier than and after the outcomes had been introduced, I heard some junk-drawer stats about extra-base hits by shortstops (going by strict splits, Rollins trails solely Cal Ripken Jr., outdoing Derek Jeter by one) and having some higher counting stats than his longtime double-play associate Utley, however I don’t discover that stuff convincing. WAR and JAWS each emphatically favor Utley, and the hole between the double play companions’ shares of the vote has solely grown, from 14% in 2024 (28.8% vs. 14.8%) to 21.8% in ’25 (39.8% vs. 18%) to 33.7% in ’26 (59.1% to 25.4%). The 37 new voters whose ballots had been revealed previous to the announcement had been about half as more likely to embody Rollins as the remainder of the voters (13.5% to 26.5%). These aren’t traits that portend election by the writers, however Rollins may nonetheless observe the identical well-worn path that led Kent and Fred McGriff to Cooperstown.

Bobby Abreu (seventh, 30.8%, up 11.3%)

Abreu posted the sixth-largest achieve of any candidate throughout this cycle and has doubled his help over the previous three. In my MLB Now spot, Brian Kenny invited me to make my case for him:

Because the Tracker group identified, when it comes to revealed ballots, Abreu’s sixth- and seventh-year trajectories match up properly with these of Larry Walker. By way of precise voting shares, Abreu outdid each Walker’s 15.5% in 2016 and 21.9% in ’17. However from that time till his election in 2020, Walker made the most important three-year achieve (54.7%) of the trendy period, and from ’18 (34.1%) to ’20, he had the second-largest two-year achieve (42.5%). Even when Abreu solely wants what would quantity to the fifth-largest three-year achieve to achieve 75%, the percentages are strongly in opposition to him, as his case isn’t as sturdy as that of Walker, who outranks him in JAWS whereas additionally having earned an MVP award, three batting titles, and 7 Gold Gloves — Abreu has none of these — whereas outdoing him in All-Star choices, 5 to 2. For Abreu’s candidacy, the laborious work is simply starting.

Manny Ramirez (Tenth, 38.8%, up 4.5%), Alex Rodriguez (fifth, 40%, up 2.9%)

Although he obtained the very best share of his 10-year run, Ramirez aged off the poll, his candidacy weighed down by his two PED suspensions, and even with this yr’s bump, he added simply 10.6 proportion factors over his last six cycles. Given the best way the Period Committees have been engineered to embarrass Bonds and Clemens and maybe to take away their eligibility altogether, it’s to Ramirez’s benefit to not land on the 2029 Modern Baseball poll. He’ll not solely take area away from a candidate who gained’t be an computerized “no” from a large chunk of the voters, he’ll danger receiving his first of simply two strikes if he doesn’t get not less than 5 votes and be rendered ineligible for the 2032 poll. Not that anybody however Manny bears duty for his destiny, as he knew he risked suspension for getting caught doping.

Rodriguez could also be forward of Ramirez’s tempo midway by his personal run, however the finish outcome would be the identical even when he winds up in Clemens/Bonds/Sheffield territory, with over 60%. Curiously sufficient, the 37 new voters had been solely barely extra supportive of each of those guys than the remainder of the voters, every giving them a 40.5% share.

Félix Hernández (2nd, 46.1%, up 25.5%)

Among the many most fascinating and traditionally vital developments within the election was the surge of King Félix. No, he doesn’t have the normal or superior stats one typically associates with a Corridor of Fame starter, however he’s on the vanguard of the voters’s collective reconsideration of these hurlers in an age of diminished workloads, larger damage charges, and more and more distant milestones. MLB.com’s Mike Petriello’s use of rolling WAR totals throughout seven- and 10-year spans has helped to light up Hernández’s dominance throughout sizable stretches; as Petriello famous, he’s second in pitching WAR from 2009–15, third from each ’07–13 and ’08–14, and first within the 10-year span from ’06–15. The final of these places him within the firm of 13 Corridor of Fame starters plus future honorees Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, the PED-exiled Clemens, and the fondly-remembered Ron Guidry and Dave Stieb, the final two of whom lacked the longevity to impress voters once they landed on ballots in 1994 and 2004, respectively.

Petriello’s work might have significantly clicked along with his fellow first-time voters, as a result of 28 of these 37 who revealed their ballots (75.7%) included Hernández, resulting in what I identified on Tuesday was the most important year-over-year achieve because the voters returned to annual balloting in 1967 (with Utley and Pettitte cracking the leaderboard as properly):

Of the eight trendy candidates with second-year shares inside six factors of that of Hernández, the 5 elected by the writers wanted a median of 4.6 extra ballots, with a excessive of seven (Andre Dawson and Wealthy Gossage) and a low of two (Wynn). Two extra had been elected by the Veterans Committee, and the one outdoors each teams is Vizquel. As a few of Hernández’s help (together with my very own vote) is softer than it’d usually be given the lighter ballots, I don’t know the way rapidly this may result in Cooperstown. However I do know that Hernández and this cycle’s different largest gainers have crossed what I’m now calling the Maris Line, the purpose above which future election turns into extra seemingly than not, with some caveats:

All people above Maris is both a present BBWAA candidate or an Period Committee candidate who, because of unhealthy conduct (PED connections and, uh, self-sabotage), obtained too little help in his most up-to-date look to have his precise share reported. All of the others who’ve landed in that vary not too long ago, together with Beltrán, Jones, and Kent, have since been elected. Odds are that sometime Hernández joins them.

Andy Pettitte (eighth, 48.5%, up 20.6%)

Pettitte didn’t have Hernández’s dominance, however his longevity, postseason résumé, and similarities to 2025 honoree CC Sabathia when it comes to win totals and ERA+ helped him construct upon final yr’s 14.4-point achieve. That’s a rise of 35 factors in two years, the fifth-largest of the trendy period. It nonetheless leaves Pettitte in a tough place, as he’s additional out than both Tim Raines (55% in 2015) or Edgar Martinez (58.6% in 2017) had been of their eighth yr. He doesn’t want to copy what Walker did by leaping from 34.1% in his eighth yr, nevertheless it’s a tall order nonetheless.

Moreover, Pettitte’s HGH admission is a drag on his candidacy, which may have an effect on each how BBWAA holdouts and future Period Committees view him. As Sheffield can attest, nuance isn’t precisely in ample provide within the latter venue. Notably since I place Pettitte’s transgression within the “Wild West” period and don’t view it as disqualifying, my resolve to help him by the rest of his poll run is agency.

Chase Utley (third, 59.1%, up 19.3%)

With the election of Jones, BBWAA voters have lastly elected a post-1960 enlargement participant with fewer than 2,000 hits, which opens the door for Utley (1,885). He’s fourth in WAR amongst all gamers under 2,000 hits, behind two future Corridor of Famers, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, in addition to Bobby Grich, a proto-Utley who’s eighth in JAWS amongst second baseman but can’t purchase a spot on an Period Committee poll.

With one- and two-year good points that crack their respective prime 10s, Utley is knockin’ on Cooperstown’s door, and with the election of the 2025 poll’s prime two holdovers, he heads into subsequent yr as the highest returning candidate, joined by newcomers Buster Posey and Jon Lester. To cross the 75% threshold in a single fell swoop, he’ll want a soar that will be simply outdoors the highest 10 as these issues go; Walker (54.6%) and Ralph Kiner (58.9% in 1974) reached 75% from decrease percentages, however each had been of their last yr of eligibility, lending urgency to their conditions.

Andruw Jones (ninth, 78.4%, up 12.2%)

It bears repeating that Jones accomplished the best comeback in voting historical past, having climbed from a meager 7.3% in his 2018 poll debut:

Jones is the primary native of Curaçao to be elected to the Corridor, a reality we’re positive to be reminded of in March when he manages the Netherlands group within the World Honkbal Baseball Basic. The flip aspect of his breaking the two,000 hit barrier is that he’ll have the second-lowest batting common of any place participant within the Corridor (.254), forward of solely catcher Ray Schalk (.253).

Moreover, Jones is the sixth participant from the 1996–97 Braves groups to be elected, after McGriff, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones. Whereas that isn’t an all-time report, practically the entire groups with seven to 9 Corridor of Famers predate integration. Listed here are the post-integration ones:

Lastly, Jones is the Eleventh participant out of 14 whom I profiled at size in The Cooperstown Casebook to be elected since 2017:

I’d be delighted if that depend reaches 13 by the elections of Grich and Whitaker within the close to future. On that observe, with the election of the ninth- and Eleventh-ranked middle fielders based on JAWS, it’s about rattling time Tenth-ranked Kenny Lofton — whose chapter within the Casebook wound up on the chopping room flooring — will get a glance on an Period Committee poll after going one-and-done with 3.2% in 2013, the yr that Bonds, Clemens, et al. debuted. An distinctive leadoff man with a profession on-base proportion of .372, he made six All-Star groups, led the American League in stolen bases 5 occasions, gained 4 Gold Gloves, and helped his groups to 11 playoff berths and two pennants.

Carlos Beltrán (4th, 84.2%, up 13.9%)

I need to admit that even having known as my shot on Beltrán’s election 5 years in the past — alongside Sabathia, I figured, with Jones primed to develop into one other Tenth-year honoree — I assumed he’d encounter extra resistance from the voters as a consequence of his involvement within the Astros’ unlawful sign-stealing scheme. I do know there’s a temptation to say that with Beltrán in and Bonds, Clemens, and so many different PED customers out, the writers imagine one type of dishonest is appropriate however one other just isn’t, nevertheless it’s hardly so simple as a binary in/out distinction suggests. Bonds and Clemens drew the help of over 65% of the voters by the tip of their 10-year runs, and even the previously-suspended Ramirez and Rodriguez are within the 40% vary. It’s extra correct to say that the share of voters who really feel that the unlawful digital sign-stealing is completely disqualifying is smaller than the share who really feel that method about all PED use. In flip, that proportion is smaller than the share who feels that solely PED use from the testing-and-penalty period is completely disqualifying.

Alongside these strains, with the assistance of Jason Sardell — whose probabilistic mannequin as soon as once more was essentially the most correct at predicting Tuesday’s end result — The Athletic’s Jayson Stark tracked the expansion of Beltrán’s help amongst two teams: writers who voted for Bonds and Clemens in 2022 (their last yr on the poll, conveniently one yr earlier than Beltrán’s arrival), and those that didn’t:

BBWAA voters aren’t a monolith, and since neither PED use nor the unlawful sign-stealing had been connected to everlasting ineligibility for enjoying, I don’t suppose it’s affordable to anticipate each voter to view these gamers’ transgressions as completely disqualifying. Whilst a voter who hasn’t but checked the field for Rodriguez or Ramirez, I assessment my stance yearly, and if a sure previously-ineligible Hit King is elected by the Period Committee down the street, I’ll think about the so-called character clause null and void.

Whilst we shut the books on this yr’s election, there’s nonetheless extra to discover, however earlier than I do, I’d prefer to thank the Tracker group — Ryan Thibodaux, Anthony Calamis, and Adam Dore — in addition to Jason Sardell for holding the general public so properly knowledgeable all through this cycle, and for offering a lot behind-the-scenes assist once I wanted it. I’ll shut out this cycle with my five-year electoral outlook within the coming days.