"On balance this is probably going to hurt a little more than it helps. The people who were all in for Donald Trump were going to be all in for Yesli Vega from the start, but this could be a useful tool for Spanberger to use to talk about how she can run against Donald Trump as well as Yesli Vega, " said Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington.
Trump Endorses Yesli Vega in VA 7th District Race (NBC Washington)
Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at University of Mary Washington, believes the financial pressures Musk will take on in buying Twitter will help tame his plans for the platform. “He’s paid a great deal for this property and will have to provide a great deal of money in debt service, and that’s going to create a great deal of pressure on him not to drive current Twitter users away,” he said. “That may mean Musk is not able to change Twitter as much as he might like, or risk paying a huge financial price if he does follow through on his libertarian vision for the social network.”
Elon Musk begins takeover of Twitter. Experts are wary (Courthouse News Service)
Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says that's having a subtle influence over the pacing of campaigns. "An October surprise does no good when you think about all the people who’ve already voted by this point," Farnsworth explains. "You now need a September surprise really to impact the election in the way that an October surprise used to."
What an “October surprise” looks like in the age of the election season (WVTF)
This was despite the fact that Vega had ducked a separate debate, planned for last month, that was to have been held at the University of Mary Washington (in conjunction with community groups and news outlets) and moderated by Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist there—rejecting plans for Virginia public media to broadcast the debate as insufficient, and taking a potshot at Spanberger’s “college campus” base.
“If this were a conventional election cycle, that would be very bad news for Democrats who have a lot of voter anxiety, polls show, with respect to the economy and inflation,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington.
Inflation, fears about democracy driving 2022 midterm wave (Courthouse News)
Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, said the results of the Loudoun race could be a bellwether for the Republican Party nationally, many of whose members would like to imitate Youngkin’s success last year in Virginia.
“Loudoun County has really become ground zero in Republican efforts to win back the suburbs,” he said. “If the renewed Republican efforts translate to gains in Loudoun, you can expect similar efforts elsewhere.”
Loudoun school board race partisan, tense and a test of GOP appeal (The Washington Post)
