Keep Our Republic Holds D.C. Event to Discuss 2024 Election
President John E. Jones ’77, P’11, joins diverse group of thought leaders to discuss upcoming election
Members of the nonpartisan group Keep Our Republic (KOR), among them President John E. Jones ’77, P’11, gathered at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C., last week to discuss the upcoming 2024 election.
KOR is dedicated to protecting and strengthening American democracy, and the recent event followed the group’s "Our Fragile Republic—Sounding the Alarm in Defense of Democracy," a discussion that took place on campus in April featuring former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, former U.S. House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, Pennsylvania legal expert Velma Redmond and KOR Executive Director Ari Mittleman.
The D.C. event—hosted by former Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, a co-founder of KOR—featured presentations from nationally known pollster Frank Luntz and representatives from the Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania advisory councils. Luntz's presentation focused on current trends in public opinion, including voter turnout, attitudes toward the two major political parties and views on the 2020 election.
The representatives from the Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania advisory councils provided updates on the status of challenges to the results of the 2020 election in their respective states. They also discussed potential threats to the integrity of the 2024 election, such as voter suppression and disinformation campaigns.
Among other attendees were former Congressman and Democratic House Leader Dick Gephardt; Mark Medish, also a KOR co-founder and former member of the National Security Council; Tom Rogers, the founder and first president of CNBC and MSNBC; and Jonathan Winer, former U.S. special envoy to Libya and deputy secretary of state.
The event concluded with a private dinner during which attendees had the opportunity to discuss the state of American democracy in more detail. They also shared their views on the recent Supreme Court decision in Moore v. Harper, which could have a significant impact on future of elections in the United States.
“That a group like this can reach across the political aisle to work together on something this important is nothing less than extraordinary,” said Jones, who highlighted the related research of Dickinson Associate Professor of Political Science Sarah Niebler on election processes in Pennsylvania. “It’s an approach that we take at Dickinson, looking to come together instead of dwelling on differences and widening the gap between us all. It’s only through finding common ground that we as a country can hope to evolve and maintain—and fortify—our democracy.”
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Published July 7, 2023