The midterm election results will provide insight into the accuracy of this year’s polling. To discuss, we FEATURE Celinda Lake. Lake is one of the Democratic Party’s leading political strategists. She was one of two lead pollsters for the Biden campaign in 2020 and continues to serve as a pollster to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), other national party committees, and dozens of Democratic incumbents and challengers at all levels of the electoral process. Lake’s polling and strategic advice has helped candidates such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Jon Tester, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and former Governor Bob Wise to groundbreaking wins, and her expertise guided former Senator Mark Begich to victory, making him the first Senate candidate in Alaska to oust an incumbent in 50 years. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Glamour, CNN, MSNBC, NPR.

Women candidates face a pivotal test in the midterm elections, with races across the country shaping their representation and influence in Congress. To discuss, we FEATURE Kelly Dittmar. Dittmar is an associate professor of political science at Rutgers University–Camden and director of research and scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is the co-author of A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen’s Perspectives on Why Their Representation Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018) (with Kira Sanbonmatsu and Susan J. Carroll) and author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press, 2015). Dittmar’s research focuses on gender and American political institutions. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC, NPR, PBS.

Voters in Virginia, Nevada and Idaho will be voting on ballot measures to establish abortion rights, while Missouri voters will consider a measure that would prohibit most abortions. To discuss, we FEATURE Carrie N. Baker. Baker is the Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman professor of American Studies and chair of the program for the study of women, gender and sexuality at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is an expert on women's rights law and policy, specializing in sexual harassment, sex trafficking, and reproductive rights and justice. Baker is the author of Abortion Pills: US History and Politics (Amherst College Press, 2024). Media includes: Ms. Magazine, Daily Hampshire Gazette, The New York Times, Slate, Sacramento Bee, WGBY, NPR.

Read Baker's WMC Features article on this topic here.

Haley Stevens faced a tense interview with Anderson Cooper over her decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers instead of her party's Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed. To discuss, we FEATURE Robin Leeds. Leeds is the CEO of Winning Strategies LLC, a public affairs and communications consulting firm based in Washington, DC which was a strategic partner to Burson Cohn & Wolfe, a leading global public relations firm. She is a partner at Democracy Partners and provides a wide range of services including multi-cultural and crisis communications, public policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, coalition building, diversity, equity and inclusion programming, donor advising and corporate social responsibility counsel. Media includes: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Politico, France 24.

Affordable Care Act’s 2027 enrollment period started Monday. KFF estimates that average market prices will increase by 13%. To discuss we FEATURE McClain Bryant Macklin. McClain is the vice president of policy and impact for the Health Forward Foundation, a foundation focused on access to healthcare, the social determinants of health, and health equity. McClain has an extensive background in policy at local, state, and national levels with a focus on the nexus of health, economics, and equity. She previously served as the director of policy and research for the Greater Kansas City Civic Council and the director of policy for Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Missouri. She also practiced at Husch Blackwell LLP, specializing in public policy, campaign finance and ethics, white collar litigation and government affairs. Media includes: What's Up Kansas City?, Federal News Radio, The Kansas City Star, Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

A federal judge dismissed charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about their involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop investigation, criticizing the DOJ for rushing the politically sensitive case ahead of the midterms and calling the prosecution an example of government weaponization. To discuss, we FEATURE Danielle Brian. Since 1993, Brian has been the executive director of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She frequently testifies before Congress and regularly meets with Members of Congress and officials at the White House and federal agencies to discuss how to achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. Under Brian's direction, POGO uncovered oil and gas industry fraud on public lands that led to the Justice Department’s recovery of nearly half a billion dollars, rule changes to prevent future fraud, and the dismantlement of the Minerals Management Service into separate bureaus with strengthened ethics rules; filed and won a lawsuit against then-Attorney General John Ashcroft for retroactively classifying FBI documents; and successfully pushed for reforms that bolstered both the independence and accountability of the federal Inspectors General system. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, ABC, NBC, CBS.

Heavy rains have triggered dangerous flash floods and evacuations across Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, with one Colorado town bracing for potentially historic flooding. To discuss, we FEATURE Junko Mochizuki. Mochizuki is an experienced researcher working the areas of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction with skills in policy analysis, proposal writing, project management and stakeholder engagement. Currently, Mochizuki is a technical assistance advisor on climate change at the International Monetary Fund. She also serves part-time as a senior research scholar in the Water Security Research Group of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program. Her current assignment at IIASA focuses on advancing the macroeconomic and fiscal modeling of natural disaster risk for both developed and developing countries. This entails exploring the empirical linkages between fiscal risk management, economic growth, and changes in climate extreme risks and other socioeconomic variables over time. Extensive media experience.

U.S. and Iranian officials are pursuing a diplomatic deal through Qatari mediators, but threats of renewed military strikes and attacks on shipping threaten negotiations. To discuss, we FEATURE Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet. Kashani-Sabet is the Robert I. Williams Term Professor of History and director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a scholar of modern Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and the Persian Gulf, having published extensively on these topics. She has studied Arab/Persian relations, as well as Sunni/Shia conflicts. She is also an expert on boundary disputes and politics in the Middle East, as well as an established scholar on the history of US—Iranian relaitons. Media includes: Voice of America, Newsday, NPR.

Air traffic control recordings reveal a pilot reporting icing and severe turbulence before the Learjet suddenly plunged at up to 20,000 feet per minute, crashing in Florida and killing all nine people aboard. To discuss, we FEATURE K. Denise Rucker Krepp. Krepp is a homeland security and transportation expert who began her career as an active duty Coast Guard officer in 1998. After September 11, 2001, Krepp was a member of the team that created the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Krepp was a staffer on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee and then served as Chief Counsel at the U.S. Maritime Administration during the first Obama administration. Media includes: The Washington Post, Tradewinds, Jezebel, The Hill, American Shipper, MSNBC.

November is Native American Heritage Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Adrienne Keene. Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and is a scholar, writer, podcaster, and visual artist. Her research areas include college access, transition, and persistence for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Students, including the role of pre-college access programs in student success. Additionally, she examines representations of Native peoples in popular culture, Native cultural appropriation in fashion and design, and the ways that Indigenous peoples are using the internet, social media, and new media to challenge misrepresentations and create new and innovative spaces for art and activism. She is the author of Notable Native People: 50 Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present and the co-creator and co-host of the popular podcast All My Relations. Media includes: The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, CNN.