Although the 2022 midterms are over a year from now, the primaries in about a dozen states are already less than a year away, and the field of candidates lining up to compete for a nomination is growing in key races. Handfuls of Democrats are vying to replace retiring Republican Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Richard Burr of North Carolina. Likewise, several Republicans are eager to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and oust Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew looks at how some of the most competitive primaries are shaping up.
They also ask whether a recent poll suggesting that about 15 percent of Americans believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory is a “good or bad use of polling.” And they follow up on a conversation about how Americans rate their ability to fight wild animals in a YouGov poll, this time with data from the U.K.
You can listen to the episode by clicking the “play” button in the audio player above or by downloading it in iTunes, the ESPN App or your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts, learn how to listen.
The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast is recorded Mondays and Thursdays. Help new listeners discover the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for “good polling vs. bad polling”? Get in touch by email, on Twitter or in the comments.
CORRECTION (June 2, 2021, 6:45 a.m.): An earlier version of this summary misspelled Rep. Liz Cheney’s surname.