An important reminder as we see these early polls is that O'Rourke managed to get 48% of the vote in 2018. Even if Talarico runs ever so slightly ahead of O'Rourke or Paxton runs ever so slightly behind Cruz, that might not cut it. But we'll see. 50% plus one!

Though the focus has been on the TX GOP Senate primary, tonight marks the end of an era for both parties in Texas

My lukewarm take: Given Paxton's poll lead, Trump & his advisors were afraid that he'd endorse Cornyn and Paxton would win anyway. Best case: MAGA base would think Trump was catering to GOP Senate leadership and Cornyn endorsement was insincere. Worst case: MAGA base no longer listening to Trump.

New open access paper at @polcommjournal.bsky.social with @jsievert.bsky.social: we find that messages oriented towards national politics polarize people's views and evaluations of candidates and that messages stressing local matters sometimes do the opposite. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

"It'S mAnDaToRy tO uSe CaNvAs AnD mAkE sUrE yOuR fiLeS aRe CoMpLiAnT"

The MPSA Latina/o Politics Caucus is pleased to recognize Dr. Michelangelo Landgrave, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, with an Honorable Mention for our 2026 Early Career Award. @landgravephd.bsky.social

The Roberts court in a nutshell: the Court must defer to Congress and not overstep its bounds. Also a lot of what we are being asked to do should really be done through legislation. *Congress passes legislation* No. Not like that.

There are exactly two moods when running a race:

The most unrealistic part of this book/movie is that an American would bother to learn another language.

Children can influence their parents’ politics, especially on new issues. In diverse, tech-connected families, parents are receptive to political cues from their children, particularly on emerging topics like AI regulation. Don't miss @robertocarlos.bsky.social et al at #MPSA2026.

Do the clothes make the candidate? In my paper with Steven Perry, we find candidates who dress more formally were perceived as more politically sophisticated, & indirectly had increased support. The text complexity of candidate messages had no effect. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Today in class I was discussing a Supreme Court case and kept accidentally referring to Justice Frankfurter and Justice “Frank-n-furter”. I am both relieved and dismayed that all of the students appeared to be too young to understand why this was an unfortunate mistake to make.

FWIW - over a week later and no one at the college or university level has so much as reached out to faculty about whether course reviews even happened

This still from their 2020 “Avengers” ad takes on a whole new meaning today

The disrespect that Texas Tech, as an institution, has shown towards its faculty is unconscionable. I, and many other faculty, spent hours carefully writing justifications for carefully thought out syllabi for review. The Board of Regents couldn't be bothered. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/26/t...

It is out! We find that linked fate (or lack thereof) helps explain 2024 Trump support in young Latinos. @mattlamb.bsky.social @landgravephd.bsky.social spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

In a new paper with @melissabaker.bsky.social and @landgravephd.bsky.social , we find that amongst young Latino college students, linked fate (or lack thereof) predicted vote choice in 2024. Generational status and language predicted higher linked fate: spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

I've had a bad flu/head cold the past week. I'm mostly fine now, but for the past two days I've sounded like actor Bob Einstein and it kind of makes me disappointed that this wasn't timed so that I could attempt to give my presentation at SPSA next week fully in character as Marty Funkhouser

Lukewarm take: coffee shops are generally noisy, uncomfortable, and terrible places to try to get work done. I don't know why anyone pretends otherwise.

I don’t exactly how I’m supposed to teach a course entitled “Minorities in U.S. Politics” when I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to acknowledge the existence of certain minorities until mid-February at the earliest.

Psycho is a Christmas movie

My favorite factoid about Houston is that though the suburbs are currently impossible to live in without cars, in the 1940s and 1950s the suburban areas were serviced by a sophisticated network of electric interurban rail cars, like this one in my home town of Baytown, TX

If you’re a grandparent of a student, please be careful. We are about to enter the most dangerous time of the year for you.

Moving forward, I honestly don’t know why any professor would try to teach anyone anything ever.

Very few shows portray academia/professors correctly, but season two of “Man On the Inside” pretty much nails it.

When you are unable or unwilling to argue a position on the merits, you say it’s just common sense.

Me to students: affordability is likely to become a bigger political issue with the holiday shopping season coming up. What's the hot gift item this year? Students: hmmm, probably Labubus! Me: What are those? Students: well, um.... Me: Does it have something to do with "skibidi"? Students:

Why do we not have an Armando Iannucci style farce about the 1876 election?

The weird thing about conservatives in higher ed is that they’ll often argue that gender and ethnic studies don’t teach the technical skills needed prepare students for the workforce yet conservative donors will insist on things like offering a BA in Free Thinking or a Certificate in Western Thought

But his emails.

“What you are, we once were. What we are, you one day will be”

"So, wait. Victor, you created a living being from dead tissue, capable of intelligent & complex thought, speech, emotion & had it been nourished & educated since creation, it could have been a perfectly fine, if not productive, member of society?" "yeah, but it was ugly so..." #scumbagvictor

When I get statistical results that are good for the paper but bad for society

Sliding into next week like

Going into this National Coffee Day like:

I realize there is a lot going on. But on the lighter side of things I'm having way too much fun writing this lecture on James Callender and the Reynold's affair:

“ThE SeNaTe BiLl WoN’t AfFect ReSeArCh aNd TeAcHiNg”

Watch our Community Partnership panel with @mattlamb.bsky.social and Jennifer Jackman. We discuss how you can seize opportunities in the community, align your goals, and encourage student involvement. youtu.be/viz5HeWp5gc?... Join the APSA section to get updates about panels & more.

“Back in the good old days, people trusted academia” The good old days ⬇️

Are there institutions of higher education that don’t openly hate their faculty? Asking for a friend: lubbocklights.com/texas-state-...

As I get older, the syllabi get grumpier:

Found my fall semester mug

In my new article with @bcburden and Bob Stein, we find there are different determinants for retaining newer versus more experienced poll workers. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New article: "Path to the Polls: A Study of How Poll Workers Become Poll Workers" by Matt Lamb, Bob Stein, & me in APR shows that veteran poll workers are recruited by different pathways than new recruits. News you can use for election officials. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

I chose a hell of a semester to teach "Scandals & Corruption in U.S. Politics"

I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point in my career where I think of myself as anything other than “Bob Stein’s student”. A great loss to Rice, Houston, and the field of political science news.rice.edu/news/2025/ri...

I discuss poll worker retention and recruitment with Anita Manion, David Kimball, and Michael Hanmer in this webinar hosted by @theelectionsgroup.bsky.social and CEIR www.youtube.com/watch?v=roKA...

I know I’m late to this, but just watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and this guy was right in the first movie and even more right in the last movie