As we head into the 2018 primary election season, some reporters and pundits have raised the question of whether Democratic nomination contests will turn into activist-fueled ideological purity tests—in other words, a liberal version of the Tea Party movement that has so famously roiled the Republican Party over the past […] Read more »
It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again in Southwest Pennsylvania
… This year’s midterms don’t have to be a referendum on President Donald Trump any more than 2010 was about putting limits on Barack Obama’s presidential power. They need to be about what congressional Republicans have accomplished, with an emphasis on tax reform, jobs and wages. That means talking specifics […] Read more »
Congressional Swing Districts Poll Results
Our new Lake Research Partners poll of voters in 30 targeted swing districts finds that progressive Democrats have a tremendous opportunity in the 2018 election to win these districts, and they can run and win on progressive policies. We found that in these districts, mostly held by Republican incumbents, voters […] Read more »
What Special Elections Can’t Tell Us About a Democratic Wave
There shouldn’t be much doubt that the Democrats are riding a wave heading into November’s midterm elections. That was clear well before Conor Lamb’s apparent victory in Pennsylvania last week. There have been nearly 100 special elections over the last year, and at this point there’s so much evidence of […] Read more »
Wide Gender Gap, Growing Educational Divide in Voters’ Party Identification
As the 2018 midterm elections approach, women and especially college graduates have moved toward the Democratic Party. By contrast, the Republican Party’s advantage in leaned party identification among white voters without a college degree has never been greater, dating back more than two decades. While partisanship among voters usually does […] Read more »
Small-town America has gotten an economic jolt under Trump
Fueled largely by rising oil prices, small town and rural America enjoyed an economic jolt in 2017 that could widen the political gap in November’s midterm election between those smaller places more friendly to President Donald Trump and the big metropolitan areas sharply recoiling from him and his policies, new […] Read more »