In politics, losing isn’t always a career ender. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush both lost U.S. House contests before winning statewide office. … In recent years, however, thanks to the increasing nationalization of our politics, down-ballot candidates can quickly build a brand that goes far beyond the borders […] Read more »
No, the Big Lie Hasn’t Gone Away
Key Points• An analysis of 552 Republican candidates running for Senate, House of Representatives, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general in the 2022 elections shows that close to half (221 candidates) who made statements on a spectrum from those who accepted the 2020 election outcome with reservations to those […] Read more »
How Democrats Prevented a Red Wave
By all major political indicators, 2022 should have delivered the type of shellacking that the president’s party typically endures in midterm elections: Over 70% of voters believed the country was on the wrong track, 76% rated the economy negatively, and President Biden’s approval rating of 43% has historically resulted in […] Read more »
The most shocking Senate result: Every incumbent won
One of the most common refrains in politics is voters hate Washington and want outsiders to be elected to office. But Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia’s Senate runoff on Tuesday is part of a trend that suggests that, at least in 2022, that wasn’t true. Each of the 29 […] Read more »
Georgia runoff: Candidate quality meant fewer Republicans turned out for Walker
When it came down to it, some Republicans couldn’t vote for Herschel Walker. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson Andra Gillespie, Emory University Runoff elections tend to be races of attrition. Turnout will most likely be lower, as voters are less accustomed to turning out for off-cycle elections. Candidates, then, must try to […] Read more »
Trump Is Unraveling Before Our Eyes, but Will It Matter?
… Does every time that Trump goes off the deep end make him a greater liability for the Republican Party, potentially leading to a second Biden term, the loss of the party’s precarious control of the House and weakening of Republican candidates up and down the ticket, from the U.S. […] Read more »