Races, Reforms, & Policy ─ Implications of the 2014 Midterm Elections

The midterm elections of 2014 saw the culmination of long-term trends in American politics and laid the groundwork for Republicans' successes in 2016. To what extent were the results the product of shifting partisan and demographic trends, and to what extent did policy questions drive the results? What can 2014 tell us about midterm elections generally? In this volume, leading scholars look at this election in its broad strokes, in case studies of key races, and in terms of policy questions such as immigration, health care, the environment, and election administration itself. Chapters also address the important issue of voter wait times for democratic outcomes. The authors demonstrate that while the 2014 midterms were in many ways typical, important variation emerges at the level of individual races.

Christopher J. Galdieri is an associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. His work has appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review, the New England Journal of Political Science, Politics & Policy, and several edited volumes. He is currently writing a book manuscript about carpetbagger candidates, inspired in part by the 2014 New Hampshire Senate race.
Jennifer C. Lucas is an associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College. She earned her PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park, and her BA from Providence College. Her main research interest is in women and politics, and her work on women candidates has appeared in Politics & Gender, American Politics Research, Feminist Media Studies, and Politics & Policy, and several edited collections. Tauna S. Sisco is an associate professor of sociology at Saint Anselm College. Specializing in political sociology, she earned her PhD from Purdue University. Her research on women, politics, and public policy has appeared in Feminist Media Studies, and the Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy.