Omnia Podcast: Democracy and Decision 2024 Episode Five (Audio)

The results of last week’s presidential election are in and Donald Trump will have a second term after earning 312 Electoral College votes and some 75 million votes overall. Republicans also re-gained a majority in the Senate and are poised to maintain control of the House of Representatives. In the fifth episode of Democracy and Decision 2024, the Omnia podcast that has been dissecting the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the election, PORES Executive Director Stephanie Perry spoke with John Lapinski, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, PORES Director, and Director of Elections at NBC News. They offered some post-election analysis.

The pair talked about seeing Trump’s advantage early on at the NBC News Decision Desk. “What we started to see at a granular level was that Harris was underperforming in key places,” Lapinski says. They also discussed how the polls measured up to election night results, exit polling results—which showed the economy as the most important factor for many voters—and how polling can continue to improve in future election cycles.

We have one final episode of Democracy and Decision 2024 upcoming, in which Perry will speak with Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Political Science, about the implications of a second Trump term.

Episode transcript available here.