In the News: Grant Reeher

Ahead of the meeting between incoming New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump, Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Agence France Presse: “Look for the outcome of that meeting to be something to the effect of, ‘I think I can work with (him)—but we will see how it goes and I’m hopeful—we both want the city to succeed’.”  

“Mamdani’s got to get his ideas realized in policy, and New York is notoriously difficult to govern. It’s arguably the second hardest political job in the United States, after the president. So whatever he’s able to accomplish, it won’t be easy,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“President Trump is planning—at least he's saying he's going to do this, and he seems to be taking steps towards doing this—to very aggressively use this moment of a shutdown to make further changes in government, to remove more federal workers, to rescind funding that's been appropriated,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“I do think it's the case that this kind of political violence has been rising. ...There's just been a number of shootings and attacks, attempted assassinations in recent years, and it really, to be honest, it reminds me in a way of the 1960s. And I think in each instance there's probably similar forces behind it,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“Redrawing districts in between the decennial censuses will just lead to a redistricting arms race,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “What both parties are doing is bad for the political system generally, the state legislatures and the Congress, and the citizens.” 

“His intense ground game—you can’t underestimate the power of that,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Even from political science research, we know that the most effective way to get people to turn out is face-to-face contact. He’s doing a lot of that. …He’s got tons of volunteers.”

“If I’m a Republican, I want this guy to win,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Because I want to be able to compare and contrast my campaign as a Republican, in a national election, to the idea of, ‘This is where the Democratic party is.’”

“There's going to be an enormous amount of pressure on the Republicans to stay together on this. More than anything else that any Republican who's serving in Congress right now will face, because this is going to be Donald Trump's signature domestic bill,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“Donald Trump has come in and has had just a blizzard of executive orders and other kinds of actions that have had serious impact in the federal government, the relations between the major branches of government and have had effects that have trickled down into Syracuse,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“The strategy is going to be walking a tight rope. You've got folks in the Freedom Caucus on the Republican Party in the House that want deeper cuts and more reassurances that these cuts are actually going to happen. And you've got moderate Republicans in the Senate that are worried about those cuts,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“She's playing the game a little bit differently—the resistance game,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “She doesn't want to be seen to be an ally of Donald Trump and his administration,” he says. “She also has to worry about her left flank and being seen as too liberal.”

“ I thought that [Pete] Hegseth, the defense secretary, was the most problematic overall, of all the ones that stayed in the process. I think given that Hegseth has made it through, that tells me that the other ones are likely to make it as well,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“He really was, I think, the right candidate and the right person and the right president for the times. And what happened to his presidency, ultimately I think, those same times overwhelmed his presidency” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“I think what he's putting out now, at this stage, could be seen as an attempt to nudge the behavior of both Mexico and Canada regarding the border and to engage in what is essentially financial saber rattling. But also, I wouldn't be surprised to see him follow through on this because he is a believer in tariffs,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“In recent decades the country has gotten incredibly polarized politically. Both candidates have 43% in the bank no matter what. I think what the last week is about—it's not about persuasion, we're done with that—it's about mobilization, it's about turnout. The election is going to turn on turnout,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“In some ways, you almost have two generic candidates running, one more conservative and one sort of more mainstream. And you’ve got a district that just seems more built for people who are closer to the center, in either party,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

Harris is “is performing better in the national polls versus the battleground states, which tells me she is racking up more support in states where she is already likely to win,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “That makes sense given the nature of the campaign's central messages and appeals.”

“Because the district [New York District 22] was slightly redistricted in a way that made it somewhat more favorable to Democrats and because of the nature of the two candidates in this race, I would say that Mannion would probably be the favorite in this race,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“I think it's risky,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Many Democrats and others got excited about the Harris campaign precisely because it wasn't a Biden campaign.”

Grant Reeher, professor of political science professor, says some of it “is probably being driven by the enthusiasm among the white left voters for her candidacy.”