… Across the country, immigrant-rights advocates report mounting disillusionment with both parties among Latinos, enough to threaten recent gains in voting participation that have reshaped politics to Democrats’ advantage nationally, and in states like Colorado with significant Latino populations. High hopes — kindled by President Obama’s elections and stoked in […] Read more »
New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States
Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls. The bills, laws and administrative rules — some of them tried before — shake up fundamental components of state election systems, […] Read more »
The myth of the Catholic swing vote
With President Obama’s meeting with Pope Francis Thursday, it’s a good time to reexamine the importance of the Catholic vote in America. … It’s something of a myth that Catholics, who make up about one-in-four voters, are swing voters. They don’t vote as a monolith. Data shows that they vote […] Read more »
Putting Their Eggs in the Wrong Midterm Basket
Barring significant changes in group voting habits, many commentators have argued that “The Coalition of the Ascendant” is positioned to give Democrats a notable edge in elections in the near future. There may be some truth to that supposition: The country is clearly getting more diverse, and nonwhite voters tend […] Read more »
Hiding in Plain Sight: Congressional Primaries and the Future of American Politics
Congressional primaries are the neglected stepchildren of American elections. Journalists mostly ignore them, except when a scandal-ridden incumbent is defeated. News organizations never conduct exit polls of primary voters. Congressional primaries also receive scant attention from scholars. … But the surprise arrival of the Tea Party in the 2010 midterm […] Read more »
Inside the Republican Database Behind David Jolly’s Upset Victory
To hear Republican strategists involved with David Jolly’s campaign tell it, the newest Republican in Congress owes his victory to a “Honeybadger.” That’s what officials at National Republican Congressional Committee call the voter database they’ve spent a year tirelessly building from scratch, which they argue was essential to Jolly’s surprising […] Read more »