The Political Science Election Forecasts of the 2016 Presidential and Congressional Elections, Part 3
Dear Readers: This is the latest in a series of political science forecasts for the 2016 races for the White House and Congress. We’ll be featuring forecasts from nine different individuals and/or teams this year, which James E. Campbell is assembling as part of a project for PS: Political Science and Politics that we are also featuring in the Crystal Ball. These models are based on factors such as the state of the economy, polling, whether an incumbent president is running for reelection, and other indicators. They can often be a better predictor of the eventual results than polls alone, and many are finalized months before the election. We are pleased to feature the work of the many top political scientists who have built these models, both in an attempt to predict the outcome of the election and, more importantly, to identify the factors that actually affect presidential and congressional races. Below, Campbell lays out the details and outlook of his congressional forecasting model. Additionally, we have updated our running tally of presidential and congressional forecasts to include a new version of the presidential forecast by Robert Erikson and Christopher Wlezien, as well as the forecasts for Alan Abramowitz’s congressional