The 2020 Presidential Election

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Luke Perry

   Pages 1-13

3. How Biden Rebuilt the Blue Wall

   • Luke Perry, Quinlyn Beaver, Jamie Nelson

   Pages 15-30

4. Pennsylvania: A New Bellwether?

   • Kevan M. Yenerall

   Pages 31-50

5. The Sun Belt Beginning to Shine for Democrats

   • Lawrence Becker, Tyler Hughes

   Pages 51-69

6. Progressive Grassroots Organizing (2016–2020)

   • Kristi Andersen

   Pages 71-82

7. The Polarized Pandemic

   • Philip A. Klinkner

   Pages 83-92

8. Judicial Nominations and Trump’s Complicated Relationship with the Courts

   • Daniel Tagliarina

   Pages 93-111

9. Endless Love: Evangelical Voters, the Republican Party, and Donald Trump

   • Christopher Cronin

   Pages 113-129

10. Looking Down the Barrel of the 2020 Elections

    • Robert J. Spitzer

    Pages 131-142

11. 2020—A Pivotal Moment in America’s Climate Change Efforts

    • Aaron L. Strong

    Pages 143-162

12. “America First” Finished Second: Foreign Policy in the 2020 Presidential Campaign

    • Paul S. Adams

    Pages 163-184

13. Conclusion: Main Themes and Implications for 2024

    • Luke Perry

    Pages 185-196

14. Back Matter

    Pages 197-199

    PDF

This book adopts a regional approach to understanding 2020 presidential election outcomes, taking into account the tribalism that has come to define contemporary US politics and building a path to 270 Electoral College votes. The authors employ qualitative and quantitative methods to examine electoral outcomes in the Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast, enriching contextual understandings of the national results and illuminating nuances in public opinion, voter behavior, and party politics. From this foundation, the book offers a comprehensive assessment of prominent issues in the 2020 campaign, which fundamentally shaped and reshaped the nature of the election. Scholars examine seven key issues, including multiple crises that unfolded during the campaign, to understand how these issues affected public opinion and the 2020 campaign.

• Donald Trump
• Joe Biden
• US Elections
• 2020 Election
• presidential election
• 2020 presidential campaign
• partisan politics
• evangelicals
• climate change
• Swing state
• electoral politics
• grassroots organizing
• republican party
• democratic party
• COVID pandemic
• Social Safety Net
• US Policy
• gun control
• judicial politics
• supreme court

“Luke Perry has brought a range of experts together to understand how key issues, like the COVID-19 pandemic, judicial nominations, climate change, gun rights and gun violence, foreign policy, and religious beliefs, shaped the 2020 US presidential election. In addition to learning the details of the 2020 election landscape, readers will gain critical insights into these issues and their influence on contemporary US politics.”

—  —  Peter K. Enns, Professor of Government and Public Policy and Robert S. Harrison Director, Cornell Center for Social Sciences, Cornell University, USA

 

“Bursting with insights about the 2020 presidential election, particularly with respect to the often-neglected question of how presidential elections play out regionally, Luke Perry’s The 2020 Presidential Election: Key Issue and Regional Dynamics is a must-read for anyone trying to get a handle on the ever-changing nature of presidential elections in the US.”

 — Brian Conley, Professor of Political Science, Suffolk University, USA

 

“As the nation grapples with the lingering turmoil of the 2020 presidential election, this volume provides welcome and distinctive perspectives on the many complexities of the campaign. By employing a regional approach to interpreting the election, the book offers a cogent and incisive analysis of how ideological tribalism, partisan fracturing, and cultural tussles interlaced with political issues and policy concerns.  This book is a must-read for anyone looking to acquire a richly nuanced understanding of one of the most critical US presidential elections in modern history.”

— Heather E. Yates, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Central Arkansas, USA

 

“Much has been written about the 2020 presidential election primarily focusing on the outcome of the race from a national perspective. Inthis volume, Luke Perry and his colleagues examine the 2020 presidential election through a regional and issue-based lens. In adopting this approach, readers will have a greater understanding of how sub-national demographic, economic, and political factors shape the way voters view candidates and the issues that shape elections. Additionally, readers will have a greater understanding of the major issues from the 2020 campaign and how those issues shaped candidate strategy and vote choice. As a result, this volume is an important contribution to the literature on U.S. elections, and specifically, the 2020 presidential election.”

—    — Andrew Green, Professor of Political Science, Central College, USA

• Department of Political Science, Utica College, Utica, USA

  Luke Perry

Luke Perry is Professor of Political Science at Utica College, USA, and Director of the Utica College Center of Public Affairs and Election Research. He is the author of Mormons in American Politics; From Persecution to Power (2012), Mitt Romney, Mormonism and the 2012 Election (2014), Religious Responses to Marriage Equality (2018), and Donald Trump and the 2018 Midterm Battle for Central New York (2019).

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