'The Midterm Elections: What Happened, and What Next?' now available online

A recording of our event 'The Midterm Elections: What Happened, and What Next?' is now available on the RAI YouTube channel. The event took place on Zoom on 9 November 2022.

THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS: WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT NEXT?

On Wednesday at 5pm UK time / 12 noon Eastern, the day after what were expected to be momentous midterm elections, the RAI held a panel of expert analysis and discussion. We were delighted to be joined by:

Frank Luntz, described by both Republicans and Democrats as “America’s smartest pollster”, best known for his research on the impact of language on politics.

Andra Gillespie, political scientist at Emory University, a well-known commentator and the leading expert on African American politics.

David Leal, political scientist at University of Texas Austin, a specialist on Latino politics and migration.

Patrick Andelic, political historian at Northumbria University, and the co-editor of a new book, Midterms and Mandates.

At Tuesday’s Midterm Elections it was expected that we may well see the Republicans regain both houses of Congress and make further gains at state level. The panel at this event looked at the following questions. What has been the impact of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade? How far did candidates’ personalities and profiles affect outcomes? Do personal ‘scandals’ even matter anymore? How and why did turnout vary across different voter groups? What is happening to the Latino vote? Were these elections determined by ‘the economy, stupid’? And, as we look ahead to the next two years, what will be the impact on Biden’s agenda, and on each party’s prospects in 2024? And how much might it matter that many of the Republicans expected to be elected on Tuesday night insist that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’?

Our expert panel addressed these and other questions as they digested what happened on Tuesday night. Questions were tweeted to @RAIOxford or submitted in the Q&A during the event.