WSU Professor Explores Midterm Election Results
OGDEN, Utah – In the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, Weber State University professor Leah Murray will discuss election results during the Weber Historical Society Lecture Series, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Hurst Center Dumke Legacy Hall.
Murray is a professor of political science and philosophy and the democratic engagement coordinator for WSU’s Center for Community Engaged Learning.
Thanks to the efforts of Murray and a team of dedicated students and faculty, Weber State was honored for its work helping turn out the vote. Washington Monthly’s College Rankings announced a complete list of colleges that did the best at encouraging students to vote in 2018.
“The United States is a republic that depends on fair, free and stable elections,” Murray said. “We have had national elections on a fixed schedule for 230 years, and part of what makes us unique is thinking about these elections, reflecting on whether they delivered what we expected and learning from them.”
In record numbers, Americans turned out for the midterm election, which switched control of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Democrats. Republicans retained a majority in the Senate.
While election results won’t be certified until Nov. 20, local elections project Mitt Romney winning Orrin Hatch’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Ben McAdams are projected to win their respective congressional districts. Proposition 2, legalizing medical marijuana, Proposition 3, expanding Medicaid, and Proposition 4, creating an independent redistricting commission, are all projected to pass.
Murray will discuss the results of both the national and local elections.
“I intend to go over Utah statewide elections, surprises locally (if there are any) and implications of national results,” Murray said. “Then we will pivot to 2020.”
The presentation is sponsored by the WSU Alumni Association, the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, the Department of History, Stewart Library and the Weber Historical Society.
Visit weber.edu/History/historicalsociety for more information on the Weber Historical Society Lecture Series.
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