This book analyzes changes to campaigning and voting in the United States in 2020. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 upended traditional campaign strategies, posed unprecedented challenges to candidates, and possessed the potential to fundamentally alter how campaigns think about running for office. At the same time, the Trump administrations divisive handling of twin crises stemming from the pandemic and rising racial tensions loomed over congressional races as the most disruptive election cycle in living memory. The ramifications of the 2020 congressional elections for the direction of public policy in Americaand perhaps for American democracy itselfcannot be overstated.
The Roads to Congress 2020 examines key House and Senate campaigns, candidates, and controversies in the 2020 election to reveal what accounts for the outcomes and point the way to Americas political future.
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Part I Congressional Campaign and Election Trends |
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1 The 2020 Elections Overview: A Campaign Cycle Like No Other |
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3 | (14) |
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2 The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the 2020 Elections |
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17 | (20) |
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3 Stress Test: Three Case Studies on Vote by Mail During a Global Pandemic |
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37 | (16) |
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C. Tyler Godines Camarillo |
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4 Getting Good and Mad: Exploring the Use of Anger on Twitter by Female Candidates in 2020 |
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53 | (22) |
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Part II U.S. House of Representatives Case Studies |
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5 Southern California's Flipped Congressional Districts: Bumpy Roads to Reelection and Defeat |
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75 | (26) |
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6 Florida's 26th and 27th Congressional Districts: No Socialists, No Communists, No Way |
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101 | (24) |
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7 New York's 22nd Congressional District: Brindisi V. Tenney: Round Two |
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125 | (22) |
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8 Oklahoma's District 5th Congressional Race: Deep Red Mobilization Defeats the Blue Wave Incumbent |
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147 | (20) |
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9 Texas's 21st--24th Congressional Districts: Texas Blues: Democrats' Bid to Flip Texas Falls Short |
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167 | (18) |
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10 Virginia's 7th Congressional District: Birth of a Bellwether |
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185 | (24) |
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Part III U.S. Senate Case Studies |
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11 Alabama U.S. Senate Race: A Referendum on the Trump Presidency |
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209 | (18) |
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12 Arizona U.S. Senate Race: McSally vs. Kelly---Veteran vs. Veteran, A Fight to the End |
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227 | (18) |
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13 Iowa U.S. Senate Campaign: Confirmation of Party Realignment in the Hawkeye State |
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245 | (20) |
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14 Kansas U.S. Senate Campaign: An Open Seat, But Not Enough of an Opening for Democrats |
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265 | (18) |
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15 Maine U.S. Senate Race: Independent-Minded Republican Senator Susan Collins Retains Her Seat with Crossover Appeal |
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283 | (20) |
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16 American Elections at a Crossroads: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead |
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303 | (20) |
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Index |
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323 | |
Sean D. Foreman is Professor of Political Science at Barry University, USA.
Marcia L. Godwin is Professor of Public Administration at the University of La Verne, USA.
Walter Clark Wilson is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.