The simple fact of having a Republican in the White House — any Republican — makes this the “best Democratic House environment since 2008,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan political analysis newsletter published by UVA. “The president sort of sets the table for the midterm elections and he’s a polarizing president whose approval rating is negative, so that helps open the door for Democrats,” Kondik said. “If Trump were at 55 percent approval nationally, Republican prospects in the House would be better.”
At this point, most analysts are still projecting a shift of up to two dozen or so seats in the House of Representatives to the Democrats, thereby giving them control of that house. Barely. Typical of this is the highly regarded UVA political scientist Larry Sabato’s latest comment in which he wrote: “A race-by-race analysis of Democratic House targets shows the party is close to winning the majority, but they do not have it put away, in our judgement, with Election Day less than three weeks away.”
After months of Trump rallies and millions raised and spent, the fundamentals have not changed: Democrats are counting on a fired-up base still seething over the 2016 election to push their candidates over the edge. Republicans note that Democrats are playing defense, with 10 incumbents fighting to survive in states Trump won big. "All things considered, not that much has changed," said Larry Sabato, director of UVA's Center for Politics. "This is one of the worst maps, if not the worst map, that Democrats have ever faced since the beginning of popular elections."
In Ohio, at least two U.S. House seats are very much in play, and although Democrats are raising money in Ohio — six Democratic challengers out-raised Republican incumbents last quarter — the districts as drawn are fairly safe for incumbents, said Kyle Kondik of the UVA Center for Politics. “The Ohio House map is designed to elect 12 Republicans and four Democrats,” he said. That’s the current split, “and that’s probably what you should expect at this stage.”
“Although clinical criteria such as family or personal history of cancer can be helpful in narrowing down patients who might be at risk for colon or uterine cancer in Lynch syndrome, our study and others have found this less helpful in upper tract urothelial cancer,” study co-author Helen Cathro, head of UVA’s Division of Renal Pathology, said. “This is why we are suggesting that relatively inexpensive immunohistochemical testing be performed on these tumors, which can be followed up with molecular testing if positive.”
James E. Ryan was inaugurated as University of Virginia's ninth president on the Lawn Friday evening. He was welcomed by UVA students and staff with singing, poetry, and positive words from speakers. One of those speakers was Governor Ralph Northam who wished Ryan luck. Another speaker was past Harvard president Drew Faust, whom Ryan worked under while he was a dean at the university.
In an inaugural address that acknowledged the University’s past while striding into the future, UVA President Jim Ryan reaffirmed UVA’s commitment to financial aid and promised to set the school on a firm moral foundation.
(Video) UVA President Jim Ryan is ushering in his inauguration on Saturday by building bridges in the UVA community.
The new president of the University of Virginia has promised free tuition for students in families earning less than $80,000 a year. President James Ryan made the pledge Friday during his inauguration.
(Press release) The Science Policy Initiative at UVA and the non-profit Cville Comm-UNI-ty ask that 5th District candidates learn more about the key local scientific issues. Science is interwoven with almost all aspects of our lives and scientific evidence should be considered when making policy.
The Department of Energy says the U.S. is one of the fastest-growing markets for wind power in the world, but that's mostly been on land. Eric Loth is a UVA engineer who's part of a team building the next generation of offshore wind turbines, inspired by a palm tree.
While universal screening for Lynch syndrome is currently only recommended for patients with colorectal and endometrial cancers, a new study recently published in The American Journal of Surgical Pathology suggests this for patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma, too. “Although clinical criteria such as family or personal history of cancer can be helpful in narrowing down patients who might be at risk for colon or uterine cancer in Lynch syndrome, our study and others have found this less helpful in upper tract urothelial cancer,” study co-author Helen Cathro, head of the University of...
"Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common and bothersome side effects patients with depression struggle with when prescribed an SSRI," said lead study investigator, Dr. Anita Clayton, chair, Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine. "We designed the study to specifically look at these troublesome side effects. Changing to a medication with potentially fewer sexual side effects, while not losing progress in treating depression, provides an important option for patients with depression."
A summit last year at UVA on teacher retention resulted in legislation that lowered barriers for entry into the profession. State and local leaders said at a follow-up summit at UVA on Tuesday that expectations and school conditions must improve to keep those teachers in classrooms.
“The Trump Administration is banking on the fact that a large percentage of the American population is still ignorant or uncomfortable with transgender identity,” says Kim Forde-Mazrui, a UVA law professor whose expertise includes sexual orientation equal protection.
As Jennifer L. Lawless, a UVA professor who has written extensively about women in politics, put it, “It will be the ‘Year of the Woman’ when we’re not talking about it.”
House Democrats are “this close” to winning control of the chamber, but the latest UVA analysis of the race shows that they haven’t locked it down and may be a few seats short. “A race-by-race analysis of Democratic House targets shows the party is close to winning the majority, but they do not have it put away, in our judgment, with Election Day less than three weeks away,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, in his new post.
(Commentary by Kyle Kondik, political analyst at UVA’s Center for Politics) For all the talk of the House generic ballot, President Trump’s approval rating, and other big-picture factors that point to the overall direction of the fight for the House, the battle for the majority comes down to a district-by-district slog.
Just one day before his inauguration, UVA President Jim Ryan announced a new working group that aims to improve relationships within the community.