UMBC faculty provide insight and analysis during Maryland’s primary election

On Tuesday, April 26, hundreds of thousands of voters in Maryland headed to the polls to cast their ballots. The U.S. Senate and presidential races were expected to draw significant attention to the primary election, and more than 125,000 people participated in early voting. As the returns came in on Tuesday, UMBC professors Donald Norris and Kimberly Moffitt provided insight and analysis on races across the state.

Norris, professor and director of the School of Public Policy, joined WJZ-TV’s extensive coverage on primary day and discussed how voter turnout was expected to impact the election and explained how it would be especially important in the Baltimore mayoral and U.S. Senate races.

“Voter turnout is always important, and sometimes it’s more important for some candidates than for others. They have to get their people out to vote. If they don’t, they don’t win,” explained Norris.

After the polls closed, Norris reflected on the results and described what lies ahead for the candidates as they turn toward the general election in November. “I think the citizens have some good choices,” Norris explained.

Norris was also quoted in The Washington Post about the Senate race and The Wall Street Journal about the influx of cash in the race to succeed Rep. Chris Van Hollen in the House.

American Studies Associate Professor Kimberly Moffitt joined WYPR’s election coverage in the week leading up to primary day and also provided analysis as the returns came in on Tuesday night. Leading up to the election, she discussed how the U.S. Senate race was particularly interesting from a media coverage perspective.

“This is an important seat. Mikulski has held this seat for a number of years, and it’s pretty much been her’s and now it’s up for grabs. I do think the need for these two candidates to get cantankerous with each other is about them saying I want this spot because it’s so important to us as a state as a whole,” Moffitt explained.

On election night, Moffitt joined Mileah Kromer, political science professor and director of the Goucher Poll, to provide perspective on the impact of races across the state.

For complete coverage, see below:

Expert Don Norris weighs in ahead of final Maryland primary numbers (WJZ-TV) 
Political expert Don Norris weighs in after a busy Maryland primary (WJZ-TV) 
Lesson from Edwards’s loss: ‘It shouldn’t be about race…We don’t go by gender’ (Washington Post) 
House candidate David Trone spent $12 million to finish second in Maryland primary (The Wall Street Journal) 
How Freddie Gray’s death changed Baltimore, and its election (The Christian Science Monitor) 
Election roundtable: Sizing up the 2016 campaigns (WYPR) 

Image: Photo by Jay Baker, CC by 2.0.  

Tags: AmericanStudies, CAHSS, PublicPolicy