Taste of Honors: Midterm Elections

Come and get a taste of one of our Fall 2026 Honors Courses.

A bit about this Honors College Forum:
David Letterman, the former host of the CBS Late Show, once joked, “Tomorrow is Election Day. It’s what they call the midterm elections, and you can cut the indifference with a knife. It’s the day Americans leave work early and pretend to vote.” Although American “indifference” to midterm elections is well-documented, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the more interesting midterm election years in recent history. Several questions surround the 2026 midterms. Will the Democrats be able to ride the recent momentum from important victories in New Jersey and Virginia? On the other side, will the Republicans be able to maintain their control over both houses of Congress? If they are unsuccessful, what effect would a GOP defeat have on the second half of President Trump's term in office? These important questions, and many more, will be discussed throughout Midterm Elections.

All honors students, regardless of their place on the political spectrum, are invited to apply for Midterm Elections. The foundation of the course will be the discussion that takes place each week around a table in the Honors College wing of Gearhart Hall. The class will begin with a foundational study of Congress, focusing on the current state of each of the major political parties. Students will also learn about the recent history of midterm elections, particularly the major “change” elections the United States saw in 1994, 2006, 2010, and 2018. Each student will also be assigned a congressional election to track throughout the semester, periodically reporting to the class about the state of the race. At the end of the semester, students will analyze the results of the midterm and what they could mean for the new session of Congress that will begin in January 2027.

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