Category Archives: sfarnswo

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

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 who are facing challenges, more aggressive challengers than they have seen in primaries in years past, challengers who are making an argument that the party needs to be more liberal."

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

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/

Senator Ben Cardin will retire in 2024. Who might his successor be? (DC News Now)

“Ben Cardin took his job seriously. He looked at budgets, he looked at Medicaid and healthcare financing issues, and a lot of people have benefited from this serious attention. … It’s always a sad day when the number of serious Senators in Washington drops by one,” said Stephen Farnsworth, Professor of Political Science at the University of Mary Washington.

Senator Ben Cardin will retire in 2024. Who might his successor be? (DC News Now)

Northern Virginia Poised to Lose Influence (The Connection)

"This is going to be one of the hardest fought campaign cycles in Virginia history," said Stephen Farnsworth, director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. "Both parties are raising immense amounts of money compared to the past, and both parties are going to be looking at a lot of vulnerable incumbents and promising challengers as they try to reshape the legislature that takes office next January." Northern Virginia Poised to Lose Influence (The Connection)

Dr. Stephen Farnsworth: The Wildest Election for Governor in Virginia’s History (Pod Virginia)

Dr. Stephen Farnsworth of the University of Mary Washington joins the show to discuss the 1965 election for Virginia's governor--tracking the fall of the Byrd Machine in the wake of Massive Resistance, a third-party candidate who earned more than 13% of the vote, and a candidate running from Virginia's Nazi party. The Wildest Election for Governor in Virginia’s History (Pod Virginia)