Media Availability: Political Experts Comment on Significance of New Hampshire Presidential Primary

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

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DURHAM, N.H.—Experts from the University of New Hampshire are available to discuss the uniqueness of the 2024 N. H. primary and its importance in the general presidential election – focusing on the first-in-the-nation status, issues that mean the most to Granite staters, how those topics influence candidates and what this race means in the so-called purple state and beyond.

Dante Scala, a professor of political science, is a nationally recognized expert on presidential politics and campaigns. His expertise includes the N.H. primary, American campaigns and elections, state and local government, American political development and politics in general. He can speak to the history of the N.H. primary and the role it plays in the overall presidential election. Scala is the author of Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics and The Four Faces of the Republican Party.

Scala can be reached at Dante.Scala@unh.edu; 603-540-4018

Andrew Smith, a professor of practice in political science and director of the UNH Survey Center, is known nationally as an expert on presidential elections, U.S. primaries and political polls. He can discuss the role of the primary in the political landscape of NH, as well as the nation, and how it may influence the polls. He has more than 30 years of experience in academic survey research and is co-author of The First Primary: New Hampshire's Outsize Role in Presidential Nominations.

Smith can be reached at Andrew.Smith@unh.edu; 603-343-7732