7/8/26 - Monthly Essay: "Questions for disabled candidates"

Questions for disabled candidates

Andrew Pulrang, Disability Thinking Weekday - July 8, 2026

It's important for voters to question their would-be heroes. This is especially true for disabled voters getting excited about disabled people running for office.

Graham Platner's escalating troubles this week have me thinking about how once promising candidates can disappoint us, sometimes even more than more obviously objectionable or mediocre politicians. This also reminds me of the emotional and rhetorical investment many disabled activists made in Senator John Fetterman's 2024 Senate campaign, and the feeling of being deceived about his character and political views that developed soon after his election.

I don't think we can be blamed for getting excited by disabled candidates, especially when they seem both able to win, and in tune with our concerns as disabled people. It's still incredibly rare for disabled people to run for high office. And we instinctively know that there is potential value for us in having more openly and proudly disabled people in state legislatures and in Congress. I suspect the same holds true in countries outside the US, too.

This yearning is partly what prompted me to post more than once lately about Joshua Turek, the Democratic candidate for US Senate from Iowa:

• June 3 - A disabled candidate's victory, voting accessibility, and more airline foolishness
• June 17 - Another Trump move, more on a disabled Senate candidate, and a look at political categories
• June 19 - Friday Video Share: "Representative Joshua Turek | American Conversations"

I haven't noticed much enthusiasm for Turek's campaign in disability communities. Maybe he's too "centrist" for the most engaged disability activists. Maybe we just feel burned by putting too much of our faith in disabled candidates only to be disappointed – not just by them losing or flopping, but when they actually succeed and then seem to forget or betray us. All of which prompts me to think about the kinds of questions we should ask disabled people running for office.

So, I did some brainstorming. Here are some questions that we might ask candidates with disabilities:

• How do you describe and explain your disability to others?
• How have your ways of thinking and dealing with your disability changed over the years?
• How will your own experiences of disability influence your work if elected?
• Have you ever used government-funded benefits or programs? How do you think they should be improved?
• What kind of contact do you regularly have with other disabled people?
• Which accessibility, ableism, or systemic problems bother you most in your everyday life?
• What kinds of disability-related comments, arguments, or slogans make you cringe?
• What is your take on the following issues:
  • Benefits amounts and eligibility rules, and how they encourage or discourage working.
  • Waiting lists for disability services and supports.
  • Home care and community-based care vs. nursing homes and other facilities.
  • How disability rights laws should be enforced.
  • Health care quality, access, and affordability.
  • The Trump administration's plan to move Special Education out of the Department of Education, into the Department of Health and Human Services
  • The recent Department of Justice memo attempting to undermine the Olmstead decision’s community integration mandate.
  • Efforts like the SAVE America Act that would increase federal control over voting and make registration and voting processes more strict.
• Which specific disability policy issues would you focus on if elected?
• With or without reference to your disability, how would you describe your political position or identity?
• How have you experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as a disabled person?
• Related to your disability or not, what incidents, moments, or periods of your life are you most embarrassed by – and how have you changed since then?

I don't think any of these questions are especially groundbreaking. But I also don't think that many disabled candidates get asked questions like this. Some of these questions could also be adapted for non-disabled candidates, to find out their possible positions on disability issues. It's worth noting, too, that there is at least one disability organization whose sole purpose is to help disabled people run for office: Disability Victory. On their website you can see some of the trainings they have hosted on accessible campaigning and other related topics.

What kind of experiences have you had learning about or supporting disabled candidates – or maybe running for office yourself? What questions would you most like to ask disabled people in politics? Email your ideas to: apulrang@icloud.com.

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