NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The day of reckoning for American politics has arrived, but poor weather could affect voter turnout.
The rule of thumb for the past few decades is that bad weather helps Republicans and hurts Democrats, according to Grant Reeher of Syracuse University.
“Republicans often have higher socioeconomic status, which means that their ability to deal with different kinds of setbacks on voting day is higher,” Reeher explained.
He said Republican voters often are more loyal and have more intensely held beliefs. However, he warned that there has been a change recently.
“It’s clear that in the Democratic primaries this season, we really have seen something striking going on,” Reeher said.
Still, Reeher said he would be surprised if any of the big ticket races could point to the weather as a significant factor.
But for some of the more competitive congressional and state level races: “Those could have some kind of marginal effect where you could look to see if the weather was one of the many factors.”
Some Key Local Races:
NEW JERSEY:
New Jersey. Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez has faced numerous scandals in the last few years and is up against wealthy Republican Bob Hugin, which has spurred Cook Political Report to move the race to a toss-up. Nevertheless, this is a state where a Republican hasn’t won a Senate seat in 46 years and where Clinton beat Trump by 14 points. Ultimately, while it might be a tough race for Menendez, most other polls predict he will win.
Bookmark our elections page for constant updates on the key races around the country.
CONNETICUT:
In Connecticut, the incumbent, Sen. Chris Murphy is seeking a second term. Voters will also be choosing a new governor to succeed Dan Malloy.
NEW YORK:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is hoping for another term, and some experts believe his challenger never truly stood much of a chance.