All eyes on Chicago: Rice expert available to discuss 2024 Democratic National Convention

As the country’s attention turns to Chicago, host of 2024 Democratic National Convention taking place next week, Rice University political scientist Mark Jones is available to discuss what we can expect from Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the party faithful who will speak in support of the party’s nominees for president and vice president Aug. 19-22.

“Next week all eyes will be on the Windy City to see if Kamala Harris can keep her impressive momentum moving forward with a successful Democratic National Convention,” said Jones, a professor of political science at Rice.

Normally, candidates receive a bump in the polls following their convention, Jones said. While he said it remains unclear if Harris has already received this boost following her rapid replacement of Biden at the top of the ticket, he said if she does receive a post-convention bump, then that will not only extend her positive momentum forward but also likely increase the gap between her and Trump in the six key battleground states.

“Regardless of whether or not Harris receives a post-convention bump in the polls, her prospects of winning in Texas will remain extremely low, with the most likely scenario continuing to be a Trump victory margin in the mid to high single digits, similar to his 5.6% margin of victory in 2020,” Jones said.

Jones also serves as a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His expertise and scholarly work has been widely cited by local, state and national media as well as numerous political campaigns. For more information on Jones, visit https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/mark-p-jones.

To schedule an interview, contact Jones directly at 832-466-6535 or contact Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 713-348-6777 or [email protected].

Written by Amy McCaig for Rice News.