Dear Readers: Like everyone else, we are monitoring the election returns closely. Once we record our next Crystal Ball webinar, we will send out the link to subscribers whenever it is posted. We appreciate your viewership for our past episodes. Please continue to send your questions and tips. We’ll address...
Final Ratings for the 2020 Election
Biden favored for president; narrow Democratic edge in Senate; Democrats favored to net seats in House
Dear Readers: Due to popular demand, we decided to release a final pre-election Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes webinar. We will be going through our picks for the election. We’ll also hear from Rob Griffin, the research director of the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, about the demographic changes we...
The Campaign That Didn’t Matter?
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE -- New numbers from the UMass Poll show very few undecided voters and suggest the vast majority of those voting for Joe Biden and Donald Trump made up their minds well before the pandemic and before Biden secured the Democratic nomination. -- Nearly two-thirds of...
Georgia’s Senate Races Both Move to Toss-up
And how we’re thinking about the presidential race with five days to go
Dear Readers: Join us today at 2 p.m. for our Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes webinar. In addition to breaking down the election with just days to go, we’ll be joined by Scott Tranter of Decision Desk HQ, a site that will be independently reporting results Tuesday night. Scott will...
Democrats Poised to Make State Legislative Gains
Dear Readers: We’re pleased to once again welcome Chaz Nuttycombe for an analysis of state legislative races across the country. While we do not issue our own ratings in these races, Chaz follows them very closely. For more information on some of this cycle’s other state-level races, check out Senior...
Elasticity in Swing States
Why a state like Wisconsin bounces around a lot more than a state like Florida
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE -- Swing voters are not the same as swing states. This article discusses a metric called “elasticity” for counties, which tracks a county’s variance in vote margin, to help us better identify and draw the distinction between these two. -- In the 2020 election, Republicans...
States of Play: Virginia
Dear Readers: Join us tomorrow at 2 p.m. for our Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes webinar. In addition to breaking down the election with just days to go, we’ll be joined by members of the Decision Desk HQ team, which will be independently reporting results Tuesday night. They’ll give us...
Final Forecast: Results from Two Methods of Predicting the 2020 Presidential Election
Dear Readers: We will be back Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. for our final Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes webinar before next Tuesday’s election. We will also have a reaction show the Thursday after the election. The livestream will be available at our YouTube page, UVACFP. If you have questions...
Ballot Measures: A National Rundown for 2020
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE -- Quietly, 2020 is proving to be a major year for ballot measures, with 120 on statewide ballots. In this article, we’ll look at 70 with the potential to have a significant policy impact. -- Some of the most numerous this year are related to...
States of Play: Florida
The right-leaning swing state that may be the key to 2020
Dear Readers: Join us today at 2 p.m., just hours before the final presidential debate, for the latest edition of Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes. Professor Sabato will be joined by Tara Setmayer, who is serving as a resident scholar at the Center. We'll also hear from former White House...
The Highest Courts in the States
Important races in Michigan, Ohio highlight this year’s state supreme court races
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE -- State supreme court elections are often overlooked, stuck at the end of long ballots and receiving little media coverage. But they can play decisive roles on policies. -- Below are rundowns of 10 states that have at least one contested supreme court election this...
The Senate: Iowa to Leans Democratic
Replaces North Carolina as the seat likeliest to be No. 50 for Democrats; the House state of play
Dear Readers: Join us Thursday at 2 p.m., just hours before the final presidential debate, for the latest edition of Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes. If you have questions you would like us to answer about the closing days of the campaign, email us at goodpolitics@virginia.edu. Additionally, an audio-only podcast...
Election 2020: A Fortnight and Five Days Away
Dear Readers: On today’s 2 p.m. edition of Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes, we’ll go in-depth on the race for the Senate. We’ll also be joined by a special guest: Grace Panetta of Business Insider. The election has already started, with millions of votes already cast: Grace is closely following...
How Anger Shapes American Politics
Dear Readers: On tomorrow's 2 p.m. edition of Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes, we'll go in-depth on the race for the Senate. We'll also be joined by a special guest: Grace Panetta of Business Insider. The election has already started, with millions of votes already cast: Grace is closely following...
Forecasting the 2020 U.S. Senate Elections Using Presidential Polling Data
Dear Readers: On Thursday’s 2 p.m. edition of Sabato’s Crystal Ball: America Votes, we'll go in-depth on the race for the Senate. We'll also be joined by a special guest: Grace Panetta of Business Insider. The election has already started, with millions of votes already cast: Grace is closely following...