Educator Update: How to know what claims are true during an election?

Local news in the classroom: Your weekly roundup Oct. 7, 2026

Good afternoon,

We hope you’re doing well with another round of heat this week. The heat rises in more ways than one as Santa Cruz’s mayoral race enters its last month, with certain claims about each candidate continuing to circulate. With each candidate denying the claim made about them, Lookout decided to take a closer look. This week’s Educator Update explores this closer look and example of professional fact-checking that students can model after. 

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HIGHLIGHTED STORY

Santa Cruz mayor race: We fact-checked two disputed claims about Ami Chen Mills and Ryan Coonerty

Why it matters: 

Both candidates in the race for Santa Cruz mayor reject certain claims made about them. The claim against Ami Chen Mills is that she intends to cancel a $500,000 loan from the city to Joby Aviation. The claim circulating about Ryan Coonerty is that he supports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Santa Cruz City Council gave Joby Aviation a $500,000 loan in 2024 to incentivize the company to stay in the city and generate jobs. Chen Mills argued that the money would mean more to local businesses, but says that doesn’t mean she has ever advocated for the city to take the money back. 

In 2011, Coonerty voted against a resolution that would have allowed local authorities to opt out of a program that required participating jails to submit arrestees’ fingerprints to immigration databases. Coonerty tells Lookout that the vote was not substantive and points to his subsequent support of immigration and related issues in the years after the vote. 

Lookout’s research suggests that the answer to the credibility of either claim is not straightforward, highlighting the importance of fact-checking and how complicated the path to the truth can appear. 

In the classroom: 

• Does Lookout come to a conclusive conclusion, or does it lay out the information for readers and let them come to their own conclusions? Which format do you prefer and why? 
• Both candidates attempt to clarify a difference between what they have said, and what they do or will do. In your opinion, how different is saying versus doing? Do they have different impacts? Should both be held to the same standard of scrutiny? 
• Paying attention to quotes from each candidate, what are they trying to divert attention to instead? What are some wording or phrasing choices they make to persuade readers?
  • Example: using “symbolic” to describe the vote 

Media literacy connection:

Fact-checking: Why is it important to fact-check controversial claims? Could the way people vote change depending on the truth to these statements?

Reporting during elections: How does credible and honest reporting impact elections? What sources is Lookout using to get its information? If Lookout was getting its information from unsubstantiated sources, how would that affect the usefulness of the article to voters? 

LOCAL NEWS

Here’s a few other Lookout stories you might find interesting. Interested in more stories? Browse all our recent coverage here.

CALIFORNIA NEWS

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Stories like the highlighted one above allow students to consider the value of fact-checking and not jumping to conclusions. It shows that any claim, made any amount of times, can be proven true or false (or somewhat true AND false) by careful research that explores where the claim came from and the context surrounding it. 

This enables students to remain calm and analytical during any influx of information, including during an election season, and to feel empowered to research unclear claims themselves to inform their decisions. 

I hope this story gives you an easy starting point for a discussion, question or lesson this week. If there’s a local issue you’d like help bringing into your classroom, or if you’d like to learn more about our school programs or schedule a classroom visit, reach out anytime at jamie@lookoutlocal.com  or education@lookoutlocal.com

Best,

Ava Salinas 

Lead Educational Programs Fellow