Previewing the 2026 midterm elections

Kyle Kondik is the director of communications for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He is also the managing editor of 'Sabato’s Crystal Ball,' the Center for Politic’s nonpartisan newsletter on American campaigns and elections. Kondik is a frequently cited expert on American politics and has appeared on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. He is the author of The Long Red Thread, a history of the growth of Republican power in the U.S. House of Representatives, and The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President. Before joining the Center for Politics in 2011, Kondik served as director of policy and research for former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and was a reporter, editorial page editor, and political columnist at newspapers in northeast Ohio. He received his BA from Ohio University and MA from Johns Hopkins University.

Jennifer Lawless, a Miller Center faculty senior fellow, is the Lenore Reeves and George Spicer Professor of Politics and the chair of the department of politics at the University of Virginia. Prior to joining the UVA faculty, she was a professor of government at American University and the director of the Women & Politics Institute. She was also an assistant and then associate professor at Brown University. Lawless’s research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics. She is the author or coauthor of nine books, including News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement, which won the Harvard Shorenstein Center 2023 Goldsmith Prize for best academic book, and It Takes More Than a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). Lawless holds a BA from Union College and an MA and PhD from Stanford University.

Doug Sosnik, a Miller Center senior practitioner fellow, is a senior advisor at the Brunswick Group. Sosnik served as a senior advisor to President Bill Clinton for six years in the White House, where he played a key role in policy, strategy, communications, and politics. His positions included senior advisor for policy and strategy, White House political director, and deputy legislative director. He has advised more than 50 U.S. senators and governors, as well as Fortune 100 companies, sports leagues and teams, news and entertainment organizations, non-profits, foundations, and universities. Sosnik currently serves as a research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School for Business and Government and contributes as a special guest at the Institute of Politics at Harvard. He earned a BA from Duke University.

Mike Emanuel is chief Washington correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined FNC in 1997 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent and currently serves as a co-anchor of FOX News Live. Since joining the network, Emanuel has provided coverage of every major election cycle. In July 2024, he was live on television when then-President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy, making him the first to break the news on air. He has provided live coverage of numerous critical national and international events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capital; and both impeachments of President Donald Trump. Emanuel has also interviewed top political figures, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Dick Cheney, and President George W. Bush.