Media invited to attend ‘Battleground Wisconsin’ event with Marquette Law Poll at Les Aspin Center in D.C.

Sept. 13, 2024


MILWAUKEE — Limited complimentary media registrations are available to attend “Battleground Wisconsin: High Stakes in Campaign 2024,” a breakfast program hosted by WisPolitics on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 8:30 a.m. at Marquette University’s Les Aspin Center for Government, 502 East Capitol Street Northeast. 

Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll; Craig Gilbert, former D.C. bureau chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and Lilliana Mason, SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss what makes Wisconsin a perennial battleground state and how things will shake out this fall in races for president, U.S. Senate and House. 

The program will last 60 minutes with additional time allotted for breakfast and networking. 

Media wishing to attend should RSVP by contacting Kevin Conway, associate director of university communication at Marquette, at kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu. 

The Marquette Law School Poll, which Franklin has directed since its inception in 2012, is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. He previously co-founded pollster.com, an award-winning site for nonpartisan polling analysis. Franklin is a past president of the Society for Political Methodology and an elected fellow of the society; he holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. 

Gilbert serves as a fellow in Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education after a 30-year journalism career, which last saw him serve as D.C. bureau chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His election analysis through the Lubar Center continues to appear in that newspaper. 

Mason is an SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science. She is co-author of “Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for Democracy” and author of “Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity.” Her research on partisan identity, partisan bias, social sorting, and American social polarization has been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Behavior, and featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and National Public Radio. 

Hosted in conjunction with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce's annual Milwaukee Night, “Battleground Wisconsin: High Stakes in Campaign 2024” is part of the WisPolitics quarterly D.C. breakfast series, a place to network with fellow Wisconsinites and newsmakers. This is the third of four this year and features a new venue in the Les Aspin Center for Government near Eastern Market, about one mile from Capitol Hill. The WisPolitics.com D.C. event series is sponsored by Marquette and the Les Aspin Center for Government, Michael Best Strategies, WPS Health Solutions, Xcel Energy and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

About Marquette University

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Through the formation of hearts and minds, Marquette prepares our 11,100 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional students to lead, excel and serve as agents of positive change. And, we deliver results. Ranked in the top 20% of national universities, Marquette is recognized for its undergraduate teaching, innovation and career preparation as the sixth-best university in the country for job placement. Our focus on student success and immersive, personalized learning experiences encourages students to think critically and engage with the world around them. When students graduate with a Marquette degree, they are truly prepared and called to Be The Difference.


About Kevin Conway

Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu