Election 2020
Our Future is at Stake
The 2020 election has Virginia and the rest of the country at a crossroads.
Four more years for President Donald Trump? Or a new era with one of his challengers? Should the House and Senate stay under Democratic and Republican control, respectively? Does Mayor Levar Stoney deserve another term?
From now until November 3—Election Day—the College of Humanities will provide crucial voting information as well as nonpartisan insights into the presidential race, the congressional contests and the mayoral election so the VCU community and the public at large can learn more about what is at stake and can make well-informed decisions.
Expert Analysis
Read articles, watch video analyses and hear podcasts produced by professors in the College of Humanities and Sciences on the major issues of this year's elections, as well as the political history that has shaped our present-day problems and choices. View all topics
The Races
President and Vice President
U.S. Senate (Virginia)
U.S. House of Representatives (Virginia 4th)
U.S. House of Representatives (Virginia 7th)
Richmond Mayoral
Independent
Video Gallery
External video resources recommended by the VCU Department of Political Science
The Electoral College Explained
You vote, but then what? Discover how your individual vote contributes to the popular vote and your state's electoral vote in different ways—and see how votes are counted on both state and national levels.
More Videos
- “The choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden” [PBS Frontline, 9/22/20]
- "'One Person, No Vote' and the impact of voter suppression" [interview from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and VCU Common Book Author Carol Anderson, 10/8/18]
- "Women's suffrage" [excerpt from “Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony” by Ken Burns]. 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment.
- "He predicted a Trump win in 2016. What's his forecast for 2020?" [New York Times Opinion, 8/5/20]
- "Steve Kornacki breaks down the 2020 Senate battleground" [NBC News, 8/26/20]
- "How Black women forged their own path to the right to vote" [The Fight, Washington Post, 9/8/20]
Events
What Just Happened?: Understanding the 2020 Presidential Election Results
November 5
Join the Robertson School for a discussion with expert alumni journalists to review how the COVID-19 pandemic, racial protests, a high unemployment rate, economic uncertainty, identity politics and political behavior shaped the 2020 presidential election, as well as the aftermath in what is likely to remain an unsettled political landscape.
Student Election Debate
Three students from VCU Young Democrats debated three students from the VCU College Republicans with Bill Oglesby, associate professor in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, as moderator.
Election 2020: How to Think Like a Political Scientist
A panel discussion with professors in the the VCU Department of Political Science: Drs. Aughenbaugh, Condit, Keena, Newmann, Paarlberg, Reckendorf and Wintersieck
Protest, Progress and The Vote: Modern Lessons Learned From Women’s Suffrage
VCU Votes and the VCU University College's Common Book Program hosts a virtual screening and panel discussion around PBS's docuseries "The Vote."
Get Informed
- FiveThirtyEight latest polls
- FiveThirtyEight presidential election poll average
- I Side With - A survey tool to see how closely you match candidates on issues
- Open Secrets - Campaign ad data
- The Economist: Forecasting the U.S. elections
- Crystal Ball (UVa Center for Politics)
- Politics in Question podcast episode: "How did the suffrage movement win the right to vote for all women in the United States?"