A team of political scientists at UNLV is participating in a major nonpartisan national study of the most noteworthy and competitive races this fall for seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The UNLV team, headed by political science chair Ted G. Jelen, will concentrate on the Nevada Senate race pitting Republican Rep. John Ensign against Democratic Sen. Harry Reid. That is one of 16 races nationwide that will be studied.
The UNLV researchers are collaborating with teams from more than 21 universities and colleges to study the campaign activities of all the political and citizen groups involved in the chosen races. Those races include House races in Connecticut, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. Senate races being studied include those in Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina, as well as Nevada.
"Never before in a single election year has an effort of this scope and magnitude been made to study the activities of all citizen and political groups involved in the political campaigns for all of the nation's most competitive congressional races," Jelen said. "The fruits of this project should prove of wide interest, not only to scholarly audiences but to policy makers, candidates, campaign consultants, and journalists, as well as concerned citizens."
The study is funded by the internationally renowned Pew Charitable Trusts and is headed by David Magleby of Brigham Young University.
In addition to Jelen, UNLV team members include political science professors Nathalie Frensley, Tim Fackler, Todd Kunioka, and Michael Bowers. The political science department is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts.
Other institutions involved in the study include UNR, Trinity College in Connecticut, Drake University, Idaho State University, Western Illinois University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kentucky, the University of New Mexico, Marietta College, Shawnee State University, Ohio University at Ironton, Ohio University at Athens, Ohio University at Chillicothe, the University of Rio Grande, Wilmington College, Pacific University, Temple University, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the College of Charleston, and Clemson University.
The UNLV group will present its initial research results in March at the Western Political Science Association meeting in Seattle.
For additional information, call Jelen at 895-3355 or Fackler at 895-4625.