Ask questions.

Don’t begin with personalities. Don’t begin with political parties. Don’t begin with what someone posted on Facebook.

Begin with the issues.

From a Republican perspective, here are nine questions worth asking about every candidate seeking your vote.

1. ECONOMY — What Will Help Americans Prosper?

Can families afford groceries, housing, transportation and health care?

Can small businesses grow and hire?

How much should government tax, spend, borrow and regulate?

Republicans generally emphasize lower taxes, reduced regulation, private enterprise, domestic production and controlling government spending. Republican congressional leaders have also identified affordability, economic growth and reducing government waste and fraud as priorities. (House Budget Committee)

Ask your candidates: What specifically would you do to strengthen the economy?

2. IMMIGRATION — Should America Control Its Borders?

But legal immigration and illegal immigration are not the same question.

Who should be admitted? What should happen when someone enters illegally? How should asylum work? What resources should Border Patrol and immigration enforcement receive?

Border enforcement continues to be a major Republican congressional priority.

Ask your candidates: What does a fair, lawful and secure immigration system look like?

3. INFLATION — What Will Make Everyday Life More Affordable?

They experience it at the grocery store, gas station, pharmacy, restaurant and mortgage payment.

Government spending, taxes, regulation, energy policy, interest rates, wages and global economic forces can all affect the cost of living.

Ask your candidates: What policies do you support to make life more affordable—and what evidence suggests those policies will work?

4. FAMILY — Who Should Have the Greatest Voice in Raising Children?

This question reaches into education, school choice, curriculum, religious liberty and the authority parents have over decisions affecting their children.

Republicans have repeatedly emphasized parental involvement and greater parental authority in education as part of their governing philosophy.

Ask your candidates: When parents and government disagree about a child’s upbringing or education, where should the law draw the line?

5. PRO-LIFE — When Does Human Life Deserve Legal Protection?

Few political questions involve more profound moral disagreements than abortion.

When does human life begin?

What legal protections should unborn children receive?

What protections should exist for mothers?

What should government do to support women facing difficult pregnancies, adoption and families raising children?

Americans reach very different conclusions about these questions. That makes it especially important to know exactly where candidates stand.

Ask your candidates: What protections should the law provide for unborn human life, pregnant women and newborn children?

6. CRIME — How Do We Keep Communities Safe?

But public safety also requires constitutional protections, due process and equal justice under law.

Republican congressional priorities in 2026 have included support for law enforcement, drug interdiction and public-safety programs. (House Appropriations GOP)

Ask your candidates: How will you reduce violent crime while protecting the constitutional rights of citizens?

7. DEFENSE — What Does America Need to Remain Safe?

China, Russia, Iran, terrorism, cyberattacks, nuclear weapons and emerging technologies present different kinds of challenges.

Republican congressional leaders have continued to emphasize military readiness, national security and investment in defense. (House Appropriations GOP)

But military strength also raises questions about spending and when American forces should be used overseas.

Ask your candidates: What should America defend, what should we spend to defend it, and when should American military power be used?

8. COURTS — What Is the Proper Role of a Judge?

Their decisions can affect religious liberty, abortion, gun rights, free speech, executive authority, criminal law and the balance of power between Washington and the states. The House Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction itself demonstrates how closely courts intersect with constitutional rights, immigration, criminal law and civil liberties.

Should judges primarily interpret laws according to their text and the Constitution’s original meaning, or should interpretation adapt more broadly as society changes?

Ask your candidates: What kind of judges would you support?

9. SOCIALISM — How Much Power Should Government Have Over the Economy?

So get beyond the label.

How much should government own?

How much should it regulate?

Which services should government provide?

What should remain in private hands?

How large should the welfare state become?

And where is the boundary between providing a social safety net and making citizens increasingly dependent upon government?

The Republican Study Committee describes its own governing philosophy as limiting government, strengthening national defense, growing the economy, preserving traditional values and balancing the federal budget. (Republican Study Committee)

Ask your candidates: Where should government’s economic power end and individual economic freedom begin?

One Final Question

What direction do I want America to go?

It is bigger than any one president.

Presidents come and go. Members of Congress come and go. Political parties gain power and lose it.

But the decisions made while they hold office can remain for generations.

So investigate the people on your ballot.

Read their websites.

Look at the voting records of incumbents.

Listen to candidates in their own words.

Compare their positions rather than relying solely on political advertising or social-media commentary.

And then make your own decision.

Because self-government requires something from us.

Citizens have to govern themselves well enough to choose wisely who will govern them.

LookUpMidterms.com

LookUpIssues.com

Rev. Richard Dalton — creator of LookUpDetroit.com and JesusQuestion.co