The University of California, Davis, has the following experts available to comment on the 2010 elections.

Incumbency and Congress

An anti-incumbent mood is fanning speculation about whether Democrats will be able to hang on to their majorities in both houses of Congress. Walter Stone, professor of political science at UC Davis, can comment on both topics. Stone is in the midst of a study on this year’s congressional elections and wrote a recent paper, “Incumbency Reconsidered: Prospects, Strategic Retirement, and Incumbent Quality in U.S. House Elections,” that was published in the January issue of the Journal of Politics. Stone also is an authority on third parties. Contact: Walter Stone, Political Science, (530) 752-0976, wstone@ucdavis.edu.

Leadership and inconsistency

Kim Elsbach

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Professor Kim Elsbach of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management studies how organizations, their leaders and individuals acquire and maintain images, identities and reputations. She is the author of the book, "Organizational Perception Management." Elsbach says, "people in Western society do not like inconsistency in their leaders. It's what gets a lot of leaders tripped up. There is so much pressure on leaders to be consistent that it outweighs the need to make the right decision or to be accurate." Contact: Kim Elsbach, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-0910, kdelsbach@ucdavis.edu.

Chicanos, labor and the vote

California's changing demographics and term limits have given Chicanos unprecedented power in the state, says UC Davis labor and health economist Adela de la Torre. Director of the Chicana/o Studies Program at UC Davis, De la Torre can talk about a range of issues regarding immigration and health policy and the Latino vote in this election, both in California and nationally. These include redistricting, Chicano political power, labor and income issues, and the influence of the California Legislature's Chicano Caucus. Contact: Adela de la Torre (Spanish speaker), Chicana/o Studies, (530) 752-2421, adelatorre@ucdavis.edu.

Elections and voters

UC Davis political science professor Robert Huckfeldt studies elections, including participation, public opinion and voting in national elections. Huckfeldt is the author of several books, including "Politics in Context," "Race and the Decline of Class in American Politics," "Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication," and "Political Disagreement: The Survival of Diverse Opinions Within Communication Networks." He is director of the UC Center Sacramento, a teaching and public policy research arm of the university. Contact: Robert Huckfeldt, Political Science, (530) 752-0975, rhuckfeldt@ucdavis.edu.

A.G. Block, associate director of the UC Center Sacramento and founding director of the Center’s Public-Affairs Journalism Program, can comment broadly on races and ballot measures to be decided in the November election. Previously, Block reported on California politics and elections as editor of California Journal magazine and, more recently, as a columnist with Capitol Weekly. He is the co-editor and principal author of four editions of “The California Political Almanac,” as well as co-editor of six editions of the “California Politics and Government Annual.” Contact: A.G. Block, UC Center Sacramento, (916) 445-7300, agblock@ucdavis.edu.

Wealth, income and social programs

Economic historian Peter Lindert is an expert on historical trends in the inequality of income, wealth and living standards in the U.S. since the 18th century, as well as social programs and the welfare state. Lindert's book, "Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth Since the Eighteenth Century," spells out the impacts of big social safety nets on the world's richest democracies. The book won two best-book prizes in social science history. "America is divided right and left by these very issues -- the role of government in our lives and who gets taxed to pay for programs," Lindert says. Contact: Peter Lindert, Economics, (530) 219-9823, phlindert@ucdavis.edu.

Security of electronic voting

Matt Bishop

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Matt Bishop, professor of computer science, can discuss security issues about electronic voting systems and their use. Bishop has participated in several reviews of electronic voting systems. He was a co-principal investigator for the California Secretary of State's "Top to Bottom Review" of certified voting machines in 2007. Bishop co-directs the Computer Security Laboratory at UC Davis, recognized by the National Security Agency as a center of excellence. He wrote the textbook "Computer Security: Art and Science." Contact: Matt Bishop, Computer Science, (530) 752-8060, bishop@cs.ucdavis.edu.

Guerrilla theatre/elections as performance

Larry Bogad, associate professor of theatre and dance, can discuss performance aspects of elections. During the last election cycle he was interviewed on several NPR stations, Washington Monthly Radio and other stations regarding the candidates' performance techniques and the street theatre aspects of activist social movements. Bogad is the author of "Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements" and has been a writer/editor/performer for the Yes Men http://www.yesmen.org, Billionaires for Bush, the Oil Enforcement Agency and other political performance groups. He has recently served as a distinguished lecturer on political performance at Carnegie Mellon University, and as a humanities and political conflict fellow at Arizona State University. Contact: Larry Bogad, Theatre and Dance, (212) 300-7943, lbogad@ucdavis.edu.