Press coverage works in mysterious ways. After the 1,000's of hours or research, fact-checking, proofreading etc. that we do on candidates in the limelight, like Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, or President Obama, it came as a bit of surprise when we started getting phone calls about one Keith Russell Judd – Democratic Presidential candidate who is currently campaigning in....jail.

As media outlets and bloggers scrambled to find the back story for Mr. Judd, who won a surprising 41% of the vote in a West Virginia primary on May 8th against his more well-known and better-funded opponent, President Barack Obama, it began to emerge that only one (very) reputable source had bothered to reach out to this possible nominee – votesmart.org. On Keith “Mtr. President, Dark Priest, W.D., Rusy...” Russell Judd's Vote Smart profile page you can find much the same information as you would for any other candidates.

Gawker 
"Would Insane Texas Prisoner Keith Judd Make a Good Vice President?"

National Journal  
"Felon Advances on Obama in West Virginia"

Politico
"How the felon won"


Project Vote Smart gives an equal footing for all candidates – if you're running we'll put you on the site. We send out thousands of copies of our Political Courage Test to anyone who's filed the correct papers with the Federal Elections Commission, and anyone who responds will see their information disclosed on votesmart.org. We have over 300 presidential candidate profiles, the vast majority of whom will not get their ABC special or a million dollar ad-buy. Keith Judd was one of these hundreds of “also-rans,” until a fateful primary in West Virginia. It's nice for researchers to know that sometimes it isn't all in vain.