Persily On Implications of Florida Presidential Primaries
COLUMBIA LAW EXPERT ON AMERICAN POLITICS CAN DISCUSS IMPLICATIONS OF FLORIDA’S PRIMARY TODAY
Press contact:
James O’Neill 212-854-1584 Cell: 646-596-2935
January 29, 2008 (NEW YORK) – Columbia Law School Professor Nathaniel Persily, an expert on American politics and election law, is available to speak with reporters about the implications of today’s presidential primaries in Florida.
The key question is which Republican comes in third, and which may drop out, because that creates a battle for their supporters on Super Tuesday, Persily said.
Nathaniel Persily, Professor of Law, can be reached on his cell at 917-570-3223 or at [email protected].
PERSILY: `` On the Republican side, by all accounts it will be a tight race between Romney and McCain for first place. If one of them wins by more than five points (that is, does much better than expected), then that candidate will have a great deal of momentum going into Super-duper Tuesday. I tend to think the more important question is who wins third, and by how much. If either Huckabee or Giuliani drops out (or is functionally dead), then the battle for their supporters becomes the critical issue on Super Tuesday. If Huckabee peters out, Romney benefits. If Giuliani is finished, McCain benefits.
“On the Democratic side, although no delegates will be chosen, a close race should be seen as an Obama victory. Also, it will be interesting to see how Hillary Clinton finesses the fact that she wants to declare victory while not completely going back on her pledge and the DNC mandate banning campaigns in Florida.”
Nathaniel Persily, an expert on voting rights, election law, constitutional law, and American politics, has been a court-appointed expert for redistricting cases in Georgia, Maryland and New York, and has served as an expert witness or outside counsel in similar cases in California and Florida. He has an upcoming book on the Supreme Court.
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