Experts in the News

Fellow Kirstin Matthews discusses recent scientific findings on Covid-19 and the realities of proposed timelines for an approved vaccine.

“One of the worst circumstances you can have is a country polarized politically and ethnically that is about to be awash in a huge amount of money,” said fellow Francisco Monaldi of Guyana, site of the Western Hemisphere’s biggest new oil find in decades.

"There will be new challenges to mitigate the risks of voting fraud, but those challenges are secondary to the primary importance of voting itself," wrote Baker Institute Faculty Scholar Dan Wallach in support of expanding vote-by-mail systems in Texas.

Lina Hidalgo’s forceful if controversial handling of the pandemic in Houston – Texas' largest metro area – has provided Democrats with an example of what the youthful progressive wing of their party can do when it has the power to make decisions on the ground in a life-and-death situation. While it is unlikely that voters would again elect a Republican county judge, said political science fellow Mark Jones, Hidalgo’s success has shown Democrats that victory is possible, and she may face strong primary challengers in 2022.

Harris County will have an extra week of early voting and more than 100 additional places for voters to cast ballots under an expansive plan approved by Commissioners Court. The plan, which includes drive-through options and early morning/late night balloting hours, aims to ensure that "voting in person is safer than going to the grocery store,” said political science fellow Mark Jones. “To the extent to which other county clerks follow [Harris County's] lead, it’s more and more difficult to make the case that voting in person represents a risk to someone’s health.”