For this week’s issue, we sent our reporters out to find the stories that will help bring context to the ballot that should be landing in your mailbox any day now. We didn’t make endorsements. We just asked lots of questions.

What really distinguishes Ed Murray and Mike McGinn? Why are people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a school board race? What is a port commissioner?

Read on to find out all that and more:

The Marketing of McGinn and Murray

Is Seattle Ready for Kshama Sawant?

The Big Labels and Fine Print of I-522

How SeaTac Became a Bellwether of Labor Politics

One Voters Quest to Figure Out What the Port Commission Does

How Did a School Board Contest Become the Hottest Race this Year?