Political Conventions, Polls, and “Moneyball 2020”

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the conventions will look vastly different from previous years. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the run-up to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. They look at how a virtual convention might affect election coverage, voter enthusiasm, and rising political talent. Later in […] Read more »

The Pandemic Is Damaging the GOP Brand Everywhere

Although hardly any of the governors grappling with the fiercest coronavirus outbreaks are on the ballot this fall, voters’ verdicts about their performance loom heavily over another electoral battle with enormous implications for the balance of power between the parties over the next decade: the struggle for control of state […] Read more »

Excluding Undocumented Immigrants from the 2020 U.S. House Apportionment

Key Points• President Trump recently indicated that he wants the 2020 census reapportionment of House seats to exclude undocumented immigrants from the calculation.• If undocumented immigrants are excluded, the 2020 reapportionment calculation will change, including changing the number of House seats allocated to the two largest states, California and Texas.• […] Read more »

Ron Johnston: Human geographer who showed that voters are influenced not only by their beliefs, but by where they live and work

Ron Johnston, who has died aged 79, was a human geographer whose work in the field of electoral geography was drawn upon by political parties and policymakers, and influenced legislation on constituency boundaries. Also renowned as a historian of his subject, due to his magisterial account of Anglo-American human geography, […] Read more »