A candidate completes the Top 10 in “I’m running for office” mode on the Top 10 board, working through four steps on all ten subjects: MyPriorities, MyBudget, MyGrade and MyOpinion. Once every subject and every answer is complete, the board produces the one thing a candidate shares: the full PDF record, with your name, office and the date completed on the cover. This guide walks through each step, then covers “In my words,” the optional statement for each subject.
How long does a full Top 10 take a candidate?
Block one hour on your calendar for a full Top 10. MyPriorities and MyBudget go quickly once your priorities are clear. MyGrade asks you to look honestly at how the government is doing on each subject. MyOpinion takes the most time, because every question on every subject is a real position you will be asked to defend.
One hour is a planning number. It leaves room to think before each answer, to write “In my words” where you want to, and to read the whole record once before you share it. A candidate who has spent a campaign talking about these subjects already knows most of the answers. The hour is for the few that need a decision.
What should a candidate do before starting?
Before starting, a candidate should choose one device and one browser they control, and set aside an uninterrupted block of time. The board keeps answers in the browser where they were made. Nothing leaves it until you share, and there is no account to sign in to. Starting on a phone and finishing on a laptop means starting over.
Three things help:
- Read the ten subjects. The Subjects section gives each one a one line scope, so you know what “Housing and communities” or “Government and rights” covers before you rank it.
- Read who decides. Each subject has a “who decides” page, such as Education: who decides, showing which level of government holds which powers. It sharpens MyGrade.
- Have your exact name and office ready. The cover of the record carries both. Use the office title voters will see; your state or local election office is the place to check details about elections in your area.1
Step 1: How do you open “I’m running for office” mode?
Open the board at myvoteforward.com/top10/#run and choose “I’m running for office.” Add your name and the office you hold or seek. In this mode, the board produces the full PDF record only when every subject and every answer is complete. That is the standard on Every subject, every answer, built into the tool.
Does any candidate get a shortcut?
No. No candidate gets a shortcut: answer everything, or get nothing. The record, the PDF, exists only once every subject and every answer is complete: MyPriorities, MyBudget, all ten MyGrades and every MyOpinion question, 62 answers in total. There is no partial record, no preview and no cards or images to share instead. There are no exceptions for any party or any office.
Fill it all out, or don’t run. We deserve to know.
Citizens are different. A citizen can download their own Top 10 PDF at any time, with whatever they have answered, because they are not running for office.
Step 2: How should a candidate approach MyPriorities?
MyPriorities asks a candidate to put the ten subjects in order, most important first, and then the issues inside each subject in order, and the honest approach is to rank by what you would spend your time in office on. Start with the top and the bottom. Your first subject and your tenth are the two places voters look first, and both should be easy to explain in a sentence. Then fill the middle.
Tips for MyPriorities:
- Rank for the office you seek and the people you would serve, not for a national audience.
- A low rank is not a dismissal. Tenth of ten still means “this matters, and nine things matter more right now.”
- Inside each subject, put first the issue you would act on first.
- Write down why your top three are your top three. You will use that sentence in “In my words.”
The Priorities chapter explains what a ranking can and cannot say.
Step 3: How should a candidate approach MyBudget?
MyBudget asks a candidate to split a fixed $1 billion across the ten subjects, and every dollar placed on one subject is a dollar not placed on another. Start from MyPriorities: give your top subjects their share first, then decide what the rest can live with.
Tips for MyBudget:
- Check MyBudget against MyPriorities. If your first subject gets your fourth largest share, have a reason ready. A subject can rank high and need less money, such as a rights question settled by law rather than spending.
- An even split is complete, and voters will read it as declining to choose.
- Think in shares. $250 million is a quarter of the whole.
The full guide is MyBudget for officials.
Step 4: How should a candidate approach MyGrade?
MyGrade asks a candidate to grade how the government is doing now on each subject, from 0 to 10, and the grades voters trust are the ones that are not all the same. A row of tens and a row of zeros both read as talking points. Grade each subject on its own.
Tips for MyGrade:
- If you hold office now, your grades include your own work. Voters will read them that way, so grade with that in mind.
- Say in “In my words” which government your grades describe, such as the city you serve or the state you are running to join.
- A middle grade with a clear reason is often the most useful answer in the record.
The full guide is MyGrade for incumbents and challengers.
Step 5: How should a candidate approach MyOpinion?
MyOpinion asks a candidate to say where they stand on every opinion question on every subject, and each question has two honest sides and room for the middle. Choose the answer closest to the policy you would actually vote for. The middle is a real answer when you mean it.
Tips for MyOpinion:
- Answer the question as worded. If you would frame the issue differently, say so in “In my words,” and still answer this one.
- Do not leave the hardest question for last. Answer it first, while you are fresh.
- If your answer differs from your party’s usual position, that is the answer voters most want to see. Explain it in a sentence.
The full guide is MyOpinion for officials.
How does a candidate write “In my words”?
A candidate writes “In my words” as one or two plain sentences per subject that explain the answers voters will ask about first. It is optional, and it is the only place in the record for your own words, so use it where a number or a side needs a reason. The answers carry the position; “In my words” carries the why.
A shape that works for each subject:
- Why the subject sits where it does in MyPriorities.
- The hardest tradeoff in its MyBudget share.
- The MyOpinion answer that may surprise people, and why.
Leave out slogans. “I’m fighting for families” fits every candidate in every race. “I put housing first and gave it $220 million because rents here have risen faster than wages” fits one, and a voter can check it. Keep any fact you state true and sourced, because the record is self-reported by you, with your name and the date on it.
Step 6: What should a candidate check before sharing?
Before sharing, a candidate should read the full record the way a voter will: MyPriorities, MyBudget, MyGrade, then every MyOpinion answer and every “In my words.” Ask three questions. Does the order match how I talk about my priorities? Does the money follow the order, or is there a reason it does not? Is there any answer I would not say out loud at a forum? Change anything that fails the test. Then share the full PDF record. Where to post it is on Share your record.
What My Vote Forward can and cannot do here
My Vote Forward gives candidates the tool and the guide; the answers and the words are the candidate’s own.
Can:
- Produce the full PDF record only once every subject and every answer is complete.
- Put your name, office and the date completed on the cover, with the record marked as self-reported by you.
- Explain each step and what voters will look for.
Does not:
- Write, suggest or review any candidate’s answers or “In my words.”
- Store answers on an account. Answers stay in the browser where they were made.
- Endorse, rank or recommend any candidate. It runs no official votes; official voting is a separate platform My Vote Forward does not build.
Unresolved questions
Two questions about completing a candidate record are still open.
- Moving between devices. What is the simplest way for a candidate who started on one device to finish on another, while answers stay private until shared?
- Long office titles. When an office has a long official title, what short form should appear on the cover so it stays readable on a phone?
Sources
Government sources cited on this page, opened and checked on October 29, 2026.
- USAGov, U.S. General Services Administration, “State and local elections.” usa.gov/state-local-elections
Make my Top 10
Fill it all out, or don’t run. We deserve to know. Make your full Top 10 now, with your name and office on it.
