Events Calendar

Part 5 of our 2020 Election Series will analyze how the nation’s geographical cleavages —battleground states, urban-rural divides, and regional differences — will play out on election night. The discussion will be led by Political Communications Professor Dan Schnur of USC, UC-Berkeley, and Pepperdine, who will be joined by Seema Mehta, political reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering the 2020 presidential campaign. As with all presidential elections, battleground states will determine this year’s outcome. Yet, the number of swing states in 2020 is far larger than we’ve seen in any recent election. The key swing states from 2016 such as Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will again play an immense role this year. But long-time blue states like Minnesota and historic red states like Arizona and Georgia are looking more competitive as well. How are Trump and Biden campaigning in this battleground saturated environment? This discussion will help listeners make sense of how these shifting geographical politics are mapping onto the race.