E&H Students to Provide Election Coverage on WJHL E-Cast

Looking for quality election night coverage? Look no further than the commentary of five E&H students who will deliver on-air election expertise Tuesday for on-line news broadcasts provided by WJHL-TV.

While Dr. Joe Lane, E&H political science professor, provides on-air analysis for WJHL (News Channel 11) during election night, five of his students will participate in a series of roundtable discussions of the election for the WJHL e-cast.

The students are Colin Christensen, a junior from Strasburg; Kaitlyn Parks, a junior from Charlottesville; Brian Serway, a senior from Roanoke; Dally Kennedy, a junior from Tazewell; and Rachael Sharp a first-year student from Williamsburg.

The students are members of Lane’s Political Science 310 class that is designed to prepare students to be experts on the dynamics of political parties and elections. Each student is assigned states that they follow through the semester, compiling reports on campaigns there and making predictions as well as suggestions about how messages should be pitched and how races should be prioritized.

“I think they will shine on this showcase,” said Lane of his students, who collectively have already made their predictions about the turnout of the presidential election. Their analysis suggests President Obama will win re-election with 303 electoral votes to Gov. Mitt Romney’s 235 electoral votes. They have also predicted a status quo outcome in the House and Senate where the partisan balance of both chambers stays largely the same.