Experts available for Super Tuesday election analysis
- Find additional Election 2024 experts here.
EVANSTON, Ill., -- Northwestern University professors in the fields of political science, communication and management are available to discuss a range of election topics ahead of Super Tuesday, including campaign strategy, misinformation and issues driving voters to the polls.
Connect with them directly using the contact information below or reach out to media relations for assistance.
On GOP candidate Nikki Haley
American politics and presidential leadership expert Alvin B. Tillery, Jr. is a professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern. He can be reached at alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu.
Quote from Professor Tillery
“With her double-digit loss in her home state primary last weekend, Nikki Haley has come under increasing pressure from donors and pundits associated with the Republican Party to abandon her bid for the party’s nomination. While there is no doubt that the calls for her to clear the field are justified and would likely be heeded in a normal election year, the situation facing the Republican Party in 2024 is anything but normal.
“With Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee, facing 91 felony indictments in federal and state courts across the United States, it makes perfect sense for Ms. Haley to try to stay in the race as long as possible to be positioned as a replacement in case the administration of justice makes it impossible for Mr. Trump to complete the campaign.
“The dilemma for Haley is that the longer she stays in the race, the more likely she is to anger the same base voters that she would need to make her competitive if Mr. Trump does go to jail or is otherwise unable to complete the 2024 campaign. On top of this, at some point the financial crush of racking up loss after loss to Mr. Trump will eventually make it impossible for Ms. Haley to stay on the campaign trail.”
An expert on elections and campaigns as well as international politics, Erik Nisbet is the Owen L. Coon Professor of Policy Analysis and Communication, and director of the Center for Communication and Public Policy. He can be reached at erik.nisbet@northwestern.edu.
Quote from Professor Nisbet
“Nikki Haley and Trump have very different rhetoric and policy divisions when it comes to Russia, Putin and American support for Ukraine. Yet, foreign policy issues rarely move large numbers of voters who are more attuned to domestic issues — especially when the U.S. is not a direct combatant. The net effect of Haley’s attacks on Trump’s foreign policy, may be opening lines of attack for Biden to exploit among persuadable independents and anti-Trump Republicans in the fall general election.”
On immigration and the border
Urban politics, race, ethnic and Latino politics expert Jaime Dominguez is an associate professor of instruction in the department of political science. He can be reached at j-dominguez@northwestern.edu.
Quote from Professor Dominguez
“Immigration and securing the border issues will be front and center. President Biden needs to work on reenergizing the Democratic base on issues such as the border, the environment and economy. The economy is booming but middle America folks aren't feeling the benefits. His campaign needs to be on the ground, talking to voters, young and working-class voters and making a case about his record on job creation, low unemployment and unrelenting support for the Affordable Care Act.
“The results in Michigan make clear he needs to shore up the UAW support going forward and needs to use highly visible surrogates like Gov. Whitmer and Gov. Newsom to highlight his political accomplishments and generate enthusiasm among independent voters. He also needs to show that he is taking the border crisis seriously by continuing to exhort the Congress to pass a bipartisanship border security agreement.
“Lastly, he needs to shift the responsibility of migrant crisis on the GOP for capitulating to Trump's request to sabotage the bipartisanship that the GOP Senate proposed. Conversely, Trump will attempt to make it all about Biden and less about the Democrats.”
On social media, AI and voter behavior
Social media and intergroup attitudes expert William Brady is assistant professor of management and organizations at Kellogg School of Management. He can be reached at william.brady@kellogg.northwestern.edu.
Quote from Professor Brady
“In this year’s election cycle, when people view political discussions on social media, they should keep in mind that some viewpoints that get amplified by content algorithms are not necessarily representative of each political group. We know two important things about political discourse on social media: 1) content that is highly emotional and moralized often get amplified by algorithms; and 2) that content is usually posted by more extreme users who also tend to post more than other users.
“The other issue to be aware of is the rise of misinformation created by the new waves of generative AI models. Social media users should try to be as informed as possible by paying attention to platform nudges like notifications about contested information or corroborating things they read on social media from other trusted sources such as mainstream news outlets. However, most platforms will be making efforts to remove misinformation as much as possible, so it’s important that users not lose trust in online news altogether.”