Archive for October, 2014
October 30th, 2014
Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik, and Geoffrey Skelley, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Join the Crystal Ball team Monday night at the University of Virginia for a free presentation on the 2014 midterms. Visit the U.Va. Center for Politics website for more information and to register to attend. A version of this article originally appeared in Politico Magazine Wednesday evening. While many races remain close, it’s just getting […]
Bevy of new ratings but still many razor-thin contests
October 30th, 2014
Geoffrey Skelley, Associate Editor, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Can we be brutally frank? The governors’ races are really tough to call this year. As of Wednesday afternoon, 11 contests had margins of three points or less in either HuffPost Pollster or RealClearPolitics’ polling averages (nine were inside that mark in both). Of those 11 races, 10 feature incumbents seeking reelection. We’ve mentioned before […]
October 30th, 2014
Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the House campaign are fretting. The elephants worry that they have not clearly put away any single Democratic House incumbent — which is true — and that they are going to underperform, not just by a seat or two, the goal of winning 245 seats set by National […]
October 23rd, 2014
Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley, Sabato's Crystal Ball
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the picture in several key races remains hazy. But when the dust settles, the most likely result is a Republican majority, as the Crystal Ball’s outlook of Republicans adding five to eight seats has long indicated. The GOP needs at least a net gain of […]
October 23rd, 2014
Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Nov. 4 is rapidly approaching but a large number of gubernatorial contests remain up in the air. In fact, despite having some ratings changes this week, the Crystal Ball still has seven Toss-up races on the board, and most appear to be headed right down to the wire. The two new ratings this week are […]
October 23rd, 2014
Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor, Sabato's Crystal Ball
There are two vastly different lead paragraphs I could have used to open this story about the state of the race for the U.S. House. Instead of picking one, I’ll just include them both, and then try to explain the odd cross-currents we’re seeing in House races across the country. Lead No. 1: With 12 […]
New 2014 Senate and House ratings
October 16th, 2014
Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, Sabato's Crystal Ball
As we approach the home stretch, 2014 has turned into a tale of two elections. On the one hand, this is a classic sixth-year itch election where the incumbent president’s party is going to suffer losses in both houses of Congress. We’re just arguing about exactly how many. Overall, it is indisputable that Republicans will […]
An analysis of polling from last three weeks of recent elections
October 16th, 2014
Sean Trende, Senior Columnist, Sabato's Crystal Ball
A few weeks ago, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver released a dataset of over 6,000 polls, all conducted within 21 days of the election. This trove of data dates back to 1998, and covers all manner of races: Senate, House, gubernatorial, and presidential. This allows us to build some expectations for what we might expect in the […]
MOOC also returns with new lessons
October 16th, 2014
UVA Center for Politics
Available now: The Kennedy Half Century in paperback, featuring new interviews, scientific studies, and empirical data. Among the new material contained in the paperback edition: A well-placed CIA employee reveals what really happened inside agency headquarters on Nov. 22, 1963. New analysis that further demonstrates the unreliability of the police Dictabelt audio evidence from Nov. […]
For many, it’s surprisingly poor
October 9th, 2014
Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics
Governors frequently report on the state of their states, but what’s the state of the governors? To judge by many of the ongoing gubernatorial campaigns, it’s not great. Out of 36 contests, one governor (Neil Abercrombie, Democrat of Hawaii) has already lost his primary, another is headed for almost-certain defeat next month (Tom Corbett, Republican […]
Plus a slight upgrade for GOP House prospects
October 9th, 2014
Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Come January, Americans may witness something that, up to now, only 6% of the country’s population has ever seen: a senator from Kansas who is not a member of the Republican Party. That’s just one reason why the Sunflower State’s Senate race is the most interesting in the country with a month to go. Kansas […]
Why Americans hate the polls.
October 9th, 2014
Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics
U.Va. Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato is contributing a regular column to Politico Magazine. This week, he examines polling averages, finding that while they are a very useful source of information, they occasionally misfire. — The Editors “Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find […]
Ushered in age of negative campaign ads, highlighted by “Daisy” spot
October 7th, 2014
UVA Center for Politics
Marking the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1964 presidential campaign, the University of Virginia Center for Politics and Community Idea Stations have released the first trailer for their latest documentary, Bombs Away: LBJ, Goldwater and the 1964 Campaign that Changed It All. Scheduled for nationwide and international release later this fall, the one-hour documentary looks […]
But Kansas race complicates matters
October 2nd, 2014
Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, Sabato's Crystal Ball
The race for the Senate is perceptively moving in the Republicans’ direction, but not so dramatically that we’re ready to call the race definitively for them. While we’ve long said the 2014 map and midterm dynamics make a GOP takeover of the Senate a probable outcome, there are just too many close races left and […]
Gubernatorial and House changes, plus the early read on early voting
October 2nd, 2014
Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Gubernatorial changes: Déjà vu for Coakley? We’ve got four gubernatorial ratings changes to make this week. The big one is in Massachusetts, where state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) can no longer be called a favorite over Charlie Baker (R), also his party’s 2010 nominee. The most recent polls have generally shown a dead heat, […]