Views from the U

Join us for our next Views from the U panel, where political science scholars from the University of Minnesota will unpack the state of modern politics, what to watch in the 2026 midterms, and what lies ahead for domestic and foreign policy. This session features faculty perspectives on Congressional contests, the Supreme Court, state political dynamics, and international affairs. 

Speakers:

Kathryn Pearson "U.S. House and Senate Races in the 2026 Midterm Elections" 

Political science professor Kathryn Pearson is the director of the University Honors Program and an associate dean of undergraduate education. Her research focuses on the U.S. Congress, congressional elections, political parties, and women and politics, and has recently appeared in "The Journal of Politics," "Perspectives on Politics," "Legislative Studies Quarterly," "Political Research Quarterly," and "Politics & Gender." Her book "Party Discipline in the House of Representatives" was published in 2015 by the University of Michigan Press; she is currently working on a new book analyzing congresswomen's pursuit of power in a partisan era.

Tim Johnson

Political science professor Timothy Johnson specializes in Supreme Court decision-making and oral arguments, judicial politics, and executive/judiciary relations. His books include "SCOTUS and COVID" and "Oral Arguments and Coalition Formation on the U.S. Supreme Court," among others. His research has been covered by the Economist, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and NPR.

Andrew Karch

Political science professor Andrew Karch's research centers on the political determinants of public policy choices in the contemporary United States, with a special focus on federalism and state politics. His most recent book, "Responsive States: Federalism and American Public Policy" (Cambridge University Press, 2019), is co-authored with Shanna Rose of Claremont McKenna College. He is also the author of "Early Start: Preschool Politics in the United States" (University of Michigan Press, 2013) and "Democratic Laboratories: Policy Diffusion among the American States" (University of Michigan Press, 2007).

Kathleen Collins

Kathleen Collins is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and the Arleen C. Carlson Professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty affiliate in Islamic Studies. She has conducted extensive field research in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Russia, the Baltics, and, more recently, Eastern Europe. She is the author of "Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia," winner of the Central Eurasian Studies Society Award for Best Book in the Social Sciences on Central Eurasia (2008), and "Politicizing Islam in Central Asia: From the Russian Revolution to the Afghan and Syrian Jihads."

Moderator

Mary Lahammer Anchor, Reporter, Producer — Twin Cities PBS 

Mary Lahammer has been a program host and political reporter for Minnesota PBS since 1998. She has won multiple regional Emmy awards and other honors across several states for anchoring, reporting, producing and photography. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted her into its Silver Circle for more than a quarter century of what the group called an "indelible impact" on the media industry. The Washington Post named her one of the "Best Capitol Reporters in America," Minnesota Monthly named her "Best TV Reporter" and City Pages named her "Best Newscaster."

Lahammer has produced documentaries and programs on topics including global trade missions, Minnesota history and farm-to-table cooking, and served as executive producer of "Jesse Ventura Shocks the World!" Before returning to PBS, where she interned in college, she worked as an anchor and reporter for an ABC affiliate in Wisconsin and an NBC affiliate in North Dakota.

A Minnesota native, Lahammer began attending the University of Minnesota's Honors College at age 15 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with degrees in journalism and mass communications and in constitutional law and history. She has served as president of the alumni board at the university's journalism school and vice president of the Midwest Emmy Awards Board of Governors.

Lahammer learned the business from her father, an Associated Press Capitol reporter for more than three decades. Her office at the State Capitol sits just around the corner from his former beat.