One of the big questions heading into the 2018 midterm elections — maybe the biggest — is how President Trump’s unpopularity will affect Republican fortunes. Normally, a president with historically low approval ratings would be a disaster for his party in Senate and House races in a midterm year. But […] Read more »
New Jersey: Choice Words for ‘Beachgate’
The past few weeks have been no day at the beach for New Jersey’s governor… except for that day at the beach, of course. The latest Monmouth University Poll finds Chris Christie’s job rating at an all-time low, although he avoids the ignominy of single-digit approval. Christie’s behavior during the […] Read more »
Possible effects of gerrymandering seen in uncontested races
When voters cast ballots for state representatives last fall, millions of Americans essentially had no choice: In 42 percent of all such elections, candidates faced no major party opponents. Political scientists say a major reason for the lack of choices is the way districts are drawn — gerrymandered, in some […] Read more »
Analysis indicates partisan gerrymandering has benefited GOP
The 2016 presidential contest was awash with charges that the fix was in: Republican Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the election was rigged against him, while Democrats have accused the Russians of stacking the odds in Trump’s favor. Less attention was paid to manipulation that occurred not during the presidential […] Read more »
Is North Carolina the Future of American Politics?
… Welcome to North Carolina circa 2017, where all the passions and pathologies of American politics writ large are played out writ small — and with even more intensity. Ever since 2010, when Republicans seized control of the General Assembly for the first time in a century, and especially since […] Read more »
Republicans are predicting the beginning of the end of the tea party in Kansas
Kansas was at the heart of the tea party revolution, a red state where, six years ago, a deeply conservative group of Republicans took the state for a hard right turn. Now, after their policies failed to produce the results GOP politicians promised, the state has become host to another […] Read more »