Category Archives: Professional Notes

Farnsworth Comments on Virginia Primaries

Farnsworth Comments on Virginia Primaries

Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth kept an eye on the recent Virginia primary with comments in numerous publications and broadcasts, including the Washington Post, Free-Lance Star, Richmond Times-Dispatch, WUSA, WTOP. Read more.

For additional stories see:

GOP urges Republicans in Fairfax and Loudoun counties to vote in Democratic primary

Control of Virginia’s Senate may fall on District 27; Here’s who’s running to try and win the seat

Will the center hold in N.Va. primaries in a wave of change?

A guide to Northern Virginia’s Democratic primaries for Commonwealth’s Attorney

Insider-outsider Va. GOP primary fight will test Youngkin’s staying power

Farnsworth Quoted on Politics in ‘The Washington Post’

Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth was featured for his expertise in a piece titled “Reform-minded prosecutors in Northern Virginia face primary challenges.” It appeared in The Washington Post, NBC 4, U.S. News, Bollyinside, WTVR,  WMAL and Fox News. In the piece, Farnsworth cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from a primary that historically draws only a narrow slice of the electorate. Still, he said if voters were to reject reform incumbents, it would be noteworthy. Read more.

Farnsworth also received other recent media mentions, including:

‘Virginia has made it a lot easier’: Early voting underway through June 17 (RVA HUB)

“That’s a big change from the way it used to be in Virginia,” said Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies. “Where most of the votes were cast on election day, that’s just no longer the case here.”

https://rvahub.com/2023/05/31/virginia-has-made-it-a-lot-easier-early-voting-underway-through-june-17th/

Farnsworth Comments on School Board Races in ‘The Washington Post’

Farnsworth Comments on School Board Races in ‘The Washington Post’ Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth has appeared in several recent media mentions, including: In N. Virginia, endorsement primaries point to increasingly politicized school boards (The Washington Post) “Even offices that are billed as nonpartisan like school boards are becoming more partisan across the commonwealth,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “What Fairfax is doing is recognizing the partisan reality of school board races.” Read more.
What Kind of Republican Is Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin? (governing.com, Daily Press, Yahoo News, Bristol Herald Courier)
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and international affairs at University of Mary Washington, said much of Youngkin’s agenda — tax cuts, calls for abortion restrictions, and putting pressure on public schools — falls in line with mainstream Republicanism. But he added it’s somewhat challenging to define what’s mainstream because the Republican Party itself is undergoing an identity crisis. Read more.
Early Voting Could Bump Lower Primary Turnout in Critical Upcoming Election (Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, Virginia Public Media, The Virginian-Pilot, Royal Examiner, Suffolk News-Herald)
“That’s a big change from the way it used to be in Virginia,” said Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies. “Where most of the votes were cast on election day, that’s just no longer the case here.” Read more.
Rising Republican star and former NASCAR driver collide in Senate primary in Southside (Cardinal News)
Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, said that Virginia Republican leadership likely preferred a convention in the district because Republicans won the governor’s office in large part by avoiding a primary in the selection of Youngkin. “A Republican primary in 2021 might have given the party a more pro-Trump nominee, and that would have really hurt Republican prospects in the gubernatorial election,” Farnsworth said. However, a governor who tries to “impose a nomination process over the objections of local party officials makes enemies and is unlikely to prevail,” Farnsworth added. Read more.
Virginia Has Made It Easier To Vote (The Connections Newspapers)
“That’s a big change from the way it used to be in Virginia,” said Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies. “Where most of the votes were cast on election day, that’s just no longer the case here.”Primaries typically have the lowest levels of turnout, he said. Read more.
Dels. March and Williams have already faced each other in court. Now they face off in a primary (Cardinal News) “The key issue in this contest is who can present themselves as the most compelling ideological reflection of this conservative district,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “While both candidates are conservative, the primary will be shaped by the extent to which being a combative Republican is better than being a productive Republican.” Read more.
Local GOP candidate for state delegate says opponent’s mailers falsely imply Youngkin’s endorsement (Prince Williams Times) Quill’s thinking makes sense according to Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies, who said primary voters are looking for ways to differentiate candidates from the same party. “Impressions matter a lot in primary campaigns because voters don’t have that Democratic versus Republican partisan cue,” Farnsworth said, adding: “What candidates often do is talk about how they are like another (elected official), implying that there may be an endorsement — without actually saying that there is an endorsement – when there is not.” Read more.
The post Farnsworth Comments on School Board Races in ‘The Washington Post’ appeared first on EagleEye.

Farnsworth Selected for Fulbright in Poland

Farnsworth Selected for Fulbright in PolandStephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, has been selected as the Spring 2024 Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences at the American Studies Center of the University of Warsaw in Poland. Dr. Farnsworth has previously served as Canada-U.S. Fulbright Research Chair in Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal and as a Fulbright Specialist in Malaysia at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur.

The post Farnsworth Selected for Fulbright in Poland appeared first on EagleEye.

Farnsworth Lectures on Political Humor

Farnsworth Lectures on Political Humor

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently delivered an online lecture to American University students entitled, “Political Humor and Donald Trump, the president and former president,” which was drawn from his co-authored book, Late Night With Trump: Political Humor and the American Presidency. Discover more info on the book.

Dr. Farnsworth has also appeared in several recent media mentions, including:

Experience vs. generational change: Deeds and Hudson square off for Democratic state Senate nomination (Cardinal News)

“In the wake of the redistricting, a lot of younger candidates for office are emerging, hoping to take advantage of new districts and electorates that may be more supportive of a more liberal vision of the Democratic party,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington.

https://cardinalnews.org/2023/05/11/experience-vs-generational-change-deeds-and-hudson-square-off-for-democratic-nomination/

Three Democrats hope to succeed John Edwards in the state Senate (Cardinal News)

“The big challenge for Virginia Democrats in any rural Virginia district is to figure out a way to thread the needle in a way Edwards did,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “You have to be sufficiently conservative to not scare voters who are independent, but sufficiently liberal so Democrats turn out in decent numbers.”

https://cardinalnews.org/2023/05/09/three-democrats-hope-to-succeed-john-edwards-in-the-state-senate/

Who’ll control the House and Senate? Early voting begins for Virginia primary elections (WJLA)

“Given the Democratic gains over the last several election cycles, I think a number of Democrats are thinking they might be okay with a more liberal nominee, that they might be able to win regardless,” said Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, the professor of Political Science at the University of Mary Washington. “And so, you’re looking at a whole series of Democratic incumbents that are facing challenges, more aggressive challengers that they’ve seen in primaries in years past, challengers that are making an argument that the party needs to be more liberal, needs to move further to the left, but also that it’s time for a new generation of democratic elected officials to come to the fore. It’s a really, really compelling cycle. In terms of the choices that voters have. This is also going on of course on the Republican side, too.

https://wjla.com/news/local/elections-virginia-house-of-delegates-state-senate-early-voting-begins-primaries-commonwealths-attorney-fairfax-county-arlington-county-loudoun-countysteve-descano-ed-nuttall-buta-biberaj-elizabeth-lancaster-josh-katcher-parisa-dehghani-tafti

Farnsworth Lectures in D.C. at the Norwegian Seminar

Farnsworth Lectures in D.C. at the Norwegian Seminar

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently presented a lecture, "The U.S. Political System Under Pressure: President Biden, the Media, and U.S. Public Opinion,” at the Norwegian Washington Seminar in Washington, DC.

Farnsworth has also appeared in recent media, including:

President Biden’s Announcement of His Re-election Bid (Voice of America in Russia)
While polls show that President Biden is not all that popular, former president Donald Trump, who is leading in the Republican nomination contest, is even less popular.
 

Fox News Parts Ways with Tucker Carlson (CTV News Canada)
“Well, my first reaction is that this is an amazing development. This was completely unexpected. We had just had a settlement last week with the Dominion case and there was no reference to Tucker Carlson and Fox having to part ways, so we are really looking at this new development with a level of astonishment,” said Stephen Farnsworth.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2673523

Fundraising disclosures show an edge for Democrats in the state Senate (WVTF)
Senator George Barker is a Democrat from Fairfax County who is poised to be one of the most senior members of the Senate and potentially chairman of the Finance Committee. But that’s only if he prevails against a challenger in the primary – former Fairfax County School Board Chairwoman Stella Pekarsky. Campaign finance records show Barker has raised about twice as much money, which is a sign of things to come, says Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington.
https://www.wvtf.org/news/2023-04-24/fundraising-disclosures-show-an-edge-for-democrats-in-the-state-senate
 
What campaign finance records show about this year’s General Assembly races (WVTF)
Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says money often finds its way to power.“People give money to politicians because they get their money’s worth. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t give money to politicians going forward,” Farnsworth explains. “And so, if you’re going to give money to politics, you might as well give money to somebody who’s highly influential, and party leaders and key figures on key committees like Appropriations are in fact those players.”
 
For Spanberger, work on new farm bill no chore, but an opportunity (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
“Reaching out to rural areas pays off, now and in the future,” said Steve Farnsworth, director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, in the heart of the 7th District under a political map that the Virginia Supreme Court adopted at the end of 2021.
https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/spanberger-farm-bill/article_f713da84-dac1-11ed-8693-eb131a6703d8.html
 
Loudoun schools’ bias-reporting system might violate free speech, court says (The Washington Post)
The appeals court ruling will “allow further disputes about what students say in Loudoun County Schools,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “The county has been this center of some of the most combative disputes over educational cultures. And if anything, the ruling will intensify those disputes going forward.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/04/14/loudoun-school-bias-appeal/