The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was redirect to United States Senate election in Maine, 2018#Democratic primary. Consensus to not keep, no consensus to delete outright, so redirect it is. Sandstein 09:12, 21 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Zak Ringelstein (  | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – ( View log · Stats)

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Candidate for US Senate without significant, independent coverage. Not that it should matter, but though Ringelstein is the Democratic nominee, he is very unlikely to win the seat against a popular Independent incumbent and thus we don't have to worry about having to recreate it anytime soon. TM 12:02, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

• Redirect to the election article. 331dot ( talk) 12:43, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. ^Thanks, L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 13:45, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. ^Thanks, L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 13:45, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. ^Thanks, L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 13:45, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Maine-related deletion discussions. ^Thanks, L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 13:45, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of New Hampshire-related deletion discussions. ^Thanks, L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 13:45, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

• Redirect to United States Senate election in Maine, 2018 as a usual and appropriate outcome for candidates to the US Senate (and other candidates for federal office). Any details about the campaign can be added to the election page. -- Enos733 ( talk) 19:22, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Keep I am the creator of the page. I created it because I believed, and continue to believe, that the sum total of coverage of Ringelstein, including his technology career, his U.S. Senate campaign, his country music flirtation, and his arrest in Texas, qualifies him as notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia. Whether or not he qualifies strictly as a politician (and I am unsure if he does or doesn't), he qualifies under WP: BASIC.

In a broader argument that is less grounded in strict Wikipedia policy, Ringelstein's inclusion in Wikipedia serves the interest of the public. Interest in Wikipedia articles about politicians surges in advance of an election, and it is reasonable to conclude that voters are using Wikipedia as a resource in deciding who to vote for. Ringelstein is one of three candidates for a United States Senate seat, and while he faces long odds against a popular and well-known incumbent, it seems only reasonable to err on the side of inclusion when considering this matter. Voters in Maine will inevitably seek out information about King, Brakey, and Ringelstein on Wikipedia, and unless there is a strongly compelling reason not to provide it, we should. OnAcademyStreet ( talk) 21:50, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

Wikipedia is not a voter guide or at least is not intended as one. Our primary purpose is to have encyclopedic content that meets existing criteria. It is quite clear that Ringelstein does not meet WP:NPOLITICIAN as he currently does not hold a political office(unlike King and Brakey who each do). If you want to change the notability criteria so that merely being a US Senate candidate(or any political candidate) merits one an article, you are free to start that discussion- although I don't think you would get consensus as it would open a big door to anyone claiming to be running for any office to get an article. 331dot ( talk) 22:13, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

I also would not describe Ringelstein as a "major local political figure" (the other NPOLITICIAN criteria) as he has not held any political office or even been active enough in local politics prior to his US Senate run to merit extensive media coverage. I don't know if his business and teaching careers have been covered enough at this point, but that can always come later. 331dot ( talk) 22:17, 13 July 2018 (UTC) reply

• Redirect, without prejudice against recreation in November if he wins. If this were enough media coverage to deem an unelected candidate as passing GNG and therefore exempted from having to pass NPOL, then we would always have to keep an article about every candidate in every election everywhere because they always get this much campaign coverage or more. It is not Wikipedia's role to be a comprehensive voter education guide to every candidate in an election — that's Ballotpedia's job, while our job is to have encyclopedia articles about holders of office. Candidates get articles without winning first in two specific situations — either they already cleared a notability standard for some other reason independent of the candidacy, such as having already held another notable office (e.g. Hillary Clinton) or already being notable in some other field (e.g. Cynthia Nixon), or the coverage of them explodes so far beyond what's merely expected to exist that there's a credible case to be made that their candidacy is special somehow (e.g. Christine O'Donnell). But neither of those conditions appears to be true here. Bearcat ( talk) 12:36, 14 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Delete, fails WP:POLITICIAN. No independent notability outside candidature. -- RaviC ( talk) 18:47, 14 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Redirect and merge any important information per our policy with otherwise non-notable candidates. SportingFlyer talk 21:09, 15 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Delete candidates for public office are not default notable for such. Short of that being the case, nothing makes Ringlestein notable. John Pack Lambert ( talk) 21:30, 15 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Keep Zak Ringelstein would qualify for a Wikipedia page even if he was not running for U.S. Senate, due to his notability in business and advocacy. He received extensive coverage when his company "United Classrooms" was acquired by Rennaisance Learning, followed by a lawsuit filed by Ringelstein against the company. He has received wide attention as an education advocate on platforms like the New York Time, Forbes, and TEDx. Ringelstein also got wide coverage from mainstream media for his humanitarian mission to the Texas border detention centers and the arrest that followed. The U.S. Senate race where Ringelstein is the Democratic nominee is also more noteworthy than an average political campaign, as it is the first federal race in U.S. history that will be decided through a Ranked Choice Voting system, giving each of the candidates more notability. Ringelstein would be sufficiently notable for a Wikipedia page aside from anything to do with his candidacy for U.S. Senate. He should not be prevented from having a page just because he is a candidate. User:207maine ( talk) 16:30, 16 July 2018 (UTC) reply

The method of the election has no bearing on the notability of the candidates. Please offer any of the sources you have about his business career. 331dot ( talk) 20:35, 16 July 2018 (UTC) reply

• Delete or redirect per above points. ALPolitico ( talk) 00:05, 21 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Delete and WP:SALT based on the editing history of this article and Draft:Zak_Ringelstein. A redirect will merely result in the article being quickly re-created by his fan. This should be salted until at least after the election. The subject fails notability guidelines, and WP is not free advertising space for election campaigns. No redirect is necessary as anyone looking for this politician can search and find him mentioned in United States Senate election in Maine, 2018, as his name is uncommon. Jack N. Stock ( talk) 01:43, 21 July 2018 (UTC) reply
• Keep Received recent substantial coverage for his arrest and endorsement by Democratic Socialists. I would expect coverage to only grow with time. Also, as per above, received coverage for his notability in business and advocacy. Definitely doesn't fail WP:POLITICIAN as notability isn't restricted to candidature. Luftfall ( talk) 06:33, 21 July 2018 (UTC) reply

If he wasn't a US Senate candidate, his arrest would have gotten zero coverage.(He demanded entry to the border facility as a US Senate candidate.) An endorsement from a group on the left is also meaningless unless one is a candidate. Coverage that flows from his candidacy shouldn't count. Please offer any of the sources you have about his business career. 331dot ( talk) 08:08, 21 July 2018 (UTC) reply

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.