The Midterm Elections: Our Experts Speak

Polarization. Gridlock. Inflation. Supply-chain issues. Tensions with Russia. Redistricting and gerrymandering. Pandemic. These and other weighty issues will shape the races between Republicans and Democrats during the 2022 midterm elections. Join us to hear longtime Seminar political analysts Sean Theriault and Richard Murray offer their insights before and after the midterms.

Thursday, October 27: Professor Theriault reminds us that although the president’s party normally loses seats in the midterms, these times are anything but normal. Will the political picture once again take on new colors, or even an entirely different look? What are the key races? What might we expect?

Thursday, November 17: Professor Murray will focus on several key questions: What happened in the U.S. House? Did Republicans regain the majority, or did the Democrats’ slim margin hold up? What happened in the Senate? What happened in Texas? And what do the 2022 midterms tell us about what to expect in the 2024 cycle?

Sean Theriault, a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the department of government at the University of Texas at Austin, has received numerous teaching awards, including Professor of the Year, and is the author of several books on congressional decision-making.

Richard Murray consulted in more than 200 political campaigns in the late twentieth century and has worked in six Texas redistricting cycles from 1971 to the present. He taught political science at the University of Houston from 1966 until his retirement in 2020 and remains a Senior Research Associate at the University’s Hobby Center for Public Policy.