This year’s theme is “Politics by the Numbers,” exploring why numbers matter during high-stakes elections like the upcoming midterms.

“Sometimes, politics and elections can seem so complicated, particularly in the midterms when there are so many races and so many candidates at the local, state, and federal level,” said Lindsay Hoffman, series director and an associate professor of communication and political science. “This year's National Agenda will, as always, provide a space for learning about and discussing the issues at this critical juncture in the 246-year experiment that is American democracy.”

National Agenda events are free and open to the public on select Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9 p.m. No registration is required to attend in person or to access the live stream, which can be accessed at https://sites.udel.edu/udlive/. The series continues this fall with these upcoming events:

• Sept. 21 — The Value of Listening with Pierce Godwin, a former Republican consultant who founded the Listen First Project

• Sept. 28 — Balancing Art and Politics with Taylyr Irvine, a Salish and Kootenai photojournalist, and Denise Lu, a New York Times graphics editor

• Oct. 20 — Delaware Debates 2022, a virtual event featuring Delaware’s candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives

• Oct. 28 — From the Review to The Atlantic with UD alumna Nora Kelly Lee, contributing writer at The Atlantic. 

• Nov. 9 — Breaking Down the Numbers with John Della Volpe, polling director for Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, and Jing-Jing Shen, a Harvard University senior and former chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project

The National Agenda “Politics by the Numbers” speaker series is hosted by UD’s Center for Political Communication. For more information, visit www.cpc.udel.edu/nationalagenda. National Agenda is made possible by generous support from the University of Delaware's Office of the Provost and College of Arts and Sciences.