APPLETON, WIS. — Former Lawrence University political scientist Christian Grose handicaps the 2006 midterm elections and the battle for control of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in a Lawrence University Science Hall Colloquium.
Grose, an assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, presents “The 2006 Congressional Elections: Will the Republicans Lose Control?” Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102. The event is free and open to the public.
Drawing upon his academic expertise as a political scientist and his personal experiences as a former congressional page, Grose will examine the effects such issues as the war in Iraq, the Mark Foley scandal, terrorism and international incidents, as well as district- and state-specific factors, that are most likely to influence the upcoming midterm elections, which he calls “one of the most volatile in more than a decade.”
In addition to the national picture, Grose also will spotlight several of the country’s most interesting and competitive Senate and House elections, including Wisconsin’s own 8th Congressional District race between Republican John Gard and Democrat Steve Kagen.
Grose joined the political science faculty at Vanderbilt last fall after having taught at Lawrence from 2002-05. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. His dissertation at Rochester, “Beyond the Vote,” received the 2004 Carl Albert award for the best dissertation published on legislative politics from the American Political Science Association.
He has written widely on the topics of presidential-legislative relations, congressional representation, race and politics, southern politics, and party switching in Congress. His current research examines the effect of “valence” attributes such as candidate charisma on legislative position-taking and electoral outcomes and is writing a book on racial representation and Congress.
